Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P N Chiotellis

Publications and source records attributed to P N Chiotellis.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Interobserver variability in echocardiography.

High-quality echocardiograms were performed on 146 normal individuals whose ages ranged from 3 to 73 years (mean 27 years). Normal values for mitral diastolic excursion and E-F slope, the chamber dimensions of the right ventricle, left atrium, and left ventricle, the aortic root dimension, and thickness of the interventricular septum and left ventricular posterior wall were determined. Each tracing was then read independently by two experienced echocardiographers. The extent of interobserver variability was calculated and expressed as a percent of the mean. The 95 per cent confidence limits for these estimates were calculated. Small but significant interobserver variability was found for all nine of these commonly measured echocardiographic parameters. Observer variability is a small but potentially important consideration in investigative echocardiography.

Adolescent↗

Echocardiographic spectrum of posterior systolic motion of the mitral valve in the general population.

The prevalence of mitral valve prolapse has been established in selected groups of patients but not in the general population. The present study was designed to define the echocardiographic spectrum of mitral valve motion in a population of young individuals without clinical evidence of significant cardiac disease or hypertension. Echocardiograms were performed on 136 normal volunteers. Six subjects (4.4 per cent) had mitral valve prolapse. Eighteen subjects (13.2 per cent) had a lesser degree of posterior systolic motion of the mitral valve leaflets which was suggestive but not diagnostic of prolapse. Minor degrees of posterior systolic mitral valve motion may represent a variant of normal. Caution should be exercised in making the echocardiographic diagnosis of mitral prolapse until this question is settled.

Adolescent↗

Detection of left atrial myxoma by gated radionuclide cardiac imaging.

Gated radionuclide cardiac blood pool scans (GCS) of end-systole and end-diastole or eight images subtending the entire cardiac cycle were performed on seven patients with left atrial myxomas documented by pulmonary cineangiography with left atrial follow-through. The ethocardiogram was either suggestive or diagnostic in all patients. In addition to demonstration of the tumor (6 patients), the GCS detected three patterns of tumor motion: 1) a defect which moved from the left atrium in end systole to the left ventricle in end diastole (2 patients); 2) a defect which remained within the region of the left atrium but decreased in size between end diastole and end systole (3); and 3) a defect which was observed within the region of the left ventricle in end diastole but disappeared in end systole (1). Thus, the GCS is a noninvasive method for detection and evaluation of motion of left atrial myxomas.

Adult↗