Left Ventrical Outflow Track

Case: Parasternal Long Axis Pt. 2

Read more about Case: Parasternal Long Axis Pt. 2

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This video details the use of bedside ultrasound imaging and a phased array probe to evaluate cardiac health and structure, especially when evaluating the left heart chambers and valves, or investigating for paracardial effusion.

Applications

Cardiology

Media Library Type

Case Study Videos

Subtitles

- Hello, my name is Philips Perera
and I'm the emergency ultrasound coordinator
at the New York Presbyterian Hospital
in New York City.
Welcome to SoundBytes Cases.
In this module, entitled Cardiac Echocardiography,
Parasternal Long Axis View Part Two,
we're going to look further into
the uses of the parasternal long axis view
at the patient's bedside.
Recall that the parasternal long axis view
of the heart is going to be obtained
by placing the probe into position A as shown here.
That will configure the probe
just left of the sternum at about intercostal space three
with the marker dot down towards
the patient's left elbow.
Now, the first two goals from the parasternal long axis view
of the heart are going to be first of all,
to look for left ventricular
contractility.
The second goal is going to be
to investigate for a pericardial effusion.
Let's begin by looking at some clips,
going over left ventricular contractility.
Here's a video clip, showing excellent contractility
of the left ventricle as taken
from a medical student triathlete.
Recall the chambers of the heart,
as taken from the parasternal long axis plane,
the left atrium, as seen in the posterior location;
the mitral valve, just to the left of the left atrium;
and the left ventricle,
as seen with it's hypertrophic walls.
Notice the strong contractility
of this left ventricle as the endocardial walls
almost meet during ossicle.
We see the aortic valve to the right
of the left ventricle
and the right ventricle in a superficial location
above the left ventricle.
Recall the descending aorta,
the cylinder cut and cross section,
just posterior to the left atrium.
Note the posterior pericardial reflection
coming off just anterior to the descending aorta
and posterior to the left ventricle.
With the small indicator arrow,
I'll trace out the posterior
pericardial reflection.
Note here the absence of any dark
or anechoic fluid collections.
Now let's contrast that last video clip
with this one taken from a patient
with an advanced cardiomyopathy.
We recall the left ventricle
and the right ventricle in a superficial location
above the LV.
Notice the very poor percentage change
of the endocardio walls
of the left ventricle during ossicle,
indicating a very decreased
ejection fraction.
Here's a clip taken from a patient
who presented with a transplanted heart
and acute shortness of breath.
We'll begin by identifying the descending aorta
as shown here to the bottom part of the picture.
Note the posterior pericardial reflection,
that white line coming off just anterior
to the descending aorta.
But what we see here is the presence
on a dark, fluid collection,
a pericardial effusion that layers out posteriorly
above the posterior pericardial reflection
and comes anteriorly to surround the heart.
With a small indicator arrow,
I'll point to the anterior portion
of the pericardial effusion and note the chaotic movement
of the right ventricle
as shown here.
This is indicative of early tamponade or high pressures
within the pericardial sac.
Here's a video clip
showing a potential mimic of a pericardial effusion.
Let's being by identifying the descending aorta
as a cylinder cut and cross section
posterior to the left atrium.
We identify the posterior pericardium, as shown here,
coming off just anterior to the descending aorta.
Note the presence here of a large,
dark or anechoic fluid collection,
but note that it layers our posteriorly there
to the pericardium.
Thus, this fluid is within the pleural cavity
and not within the pericardial cavity.
With a small indicator arrow I'm again reinforcing
the pericardial reflection
and the presence of the fluid
within the thoracic cavity,
a pleural effusion.
Next we'll look at a video clip
from a patient who present with acute
shortness of breath requiring intubation.
First, we'll begin by identifying the descending aorta,
then the posterior pericardial reflection.
Note here, the presence of fluid,
both within the pericadial sac, as shown here,
layering anterior to the pericardium
and posteriorly within the pleural cavity
layering out just below the pericardial reflection.
Why, you might ask, does the patient have all this fluid?
Well, let's look closely at the mitral valve
and on the posterior mitral valve leaflet,
we see a calcified vegetation.
This patient, in fact,
had an infected dialysis catheter
with mitral valve endocarditis
and had developed wide-open mitral valve regurgitation
resulting in heart failure
and all the fluid layering out
within the pericardium and
the thoracic cavity.
In conclusion, the parasternal long axis view
of the heart gives a great deal of information
about our patient's condition
and can be instrumental in emergency care.
Through this module,
I hope now that you'll have a better idea
on how to grade left ventricular contractility
as good through poor.
Also, to be able to identify the presence
of a pericardial effusion.
I hope to see you back as SoundBytes continues
and we look further at the
cardiac echocardiography examinations.

Brightcove ID

5794989698001

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uciGL4TaoaA

Case: Parasternal Long Axis Pt. 1

Read more about Case: Parasternal Long Axis Pt. 1

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Bedside ultrasound imaging and a phased array probe can be used to evaluate cardiac structures and health, the presence of pericardial effusion, and evaluation of the left heart chamber valves and size.

Applications

Cardiology

Media Library Type

Case Study Videos

Subtitles

- Hello, my name is Phil Perera
and I'm the emergency ultrasound coordinator
ad the New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City
and welcome to SoundBytes Cases.
Let's begin by reviewing the four standard views
of the cardiac echo exam.
The first view, as shown in probe position A
is the parasternal views both and long and short axis planes
and this is going to be performed directly
on the anterior chest wall.
The second view is where probe position B is shown here
coming from the abdominal position
or the subxiphoid view of the heart.
The last view is going to be shown by probe position C,
the apical view of the heart at
the point of maximum impulse.
This module will specifically focus on
the parasternal views, specifically looking
at the long axis plane.
There's a great deal of information
we can get from the parasternal long axis planes
so let's learn how to perform the examination.
For this examination, it's optimal to use a small footprint
phase to ray type probe that
can easily sit between the ribs.
We're going to place the probe just left of the sternum
at about intercostal space three or four
with the marker dot on the probe aimed down
toward the patient's left elbow,
if the patient's left elbow is down by the side.
That's with the caveat that ultrasound screen indicator
would be over toward the left of the screen.
This will align the probe in the long axis of the heart.
Occasionally it can be someone difficult to get
a good view of the heart from this plane
and moving the patient into the left lateral
decubitus position can sometimes help imaging
from the parasternal long axis plane of the heart.
So now let's take a look at the images
that we'll obtain by performing
the parasternal long axis view of the heart.
Here's a nice pictorial to the left
and what we see is that the most superficial
structure will be the right ventricle.
Notice that the right atrium is not seen from this plane.
Directly posterior to the right ventricle
will be the left ventricle and to the right
of the left ventricle will be seen the left atrium.
We can also see the mitral valve in between
the left atrium and the left ventricle
and a little bit of the aorta above the left atrium.
Let's look at the ultrasound still image, here, to the right
and, again, we see the superficial right ventricle,
posterior we see the left ventricle
with it's more muscular and hypertrophic walls.
Notice the left atrium, as seen to the right
of the left ventricle, and the mitral valve
in between the two chambers.
We categorize this as left ventricular inflow tract.
Note the aortic valve sitting right above the left atrium
and we see a little bit of the aortic root there.
This is what we categorize as aortic outflow tract.
Let's now take a look at the parasternal
long axis view of the heart in action.
Remember, again, that the most superficial chamber
will be the right ventricle
and the normal dimensions of the right ventricle
are that it should be about half
the size of the left ventricle.
If the right ventricle is the same size
of the left ventricle,
that could be a sign of RV strain.
We see the left ventricle posterior to the right ventricle.
Note it's hypertrophic walls.
This patient actually had long standing hypertension.
Let's look at the percentage change from
diastole through systole and here we see
that the walls come in well with each heartbeat
indicating good contractility.
We see the left atrium to the right of the left ventricle
and notice the mitral valve flipping up
and down in between the left atrium and the left ventricle.
We see here good movement of the mitral valve
indicating a good amount of blood flowing
between the left atrium and the left ventricle.
Now, just above the left atrium and
to the right of the left ventricle,
we see the aortic valve
and notice there just to the right of the aortic valve,
a little bit of the diamond shaped aortic root.
This will be our left ventricular outflow tract.
Now, another very important structure to identify
on bedside sonography is the descending aorta
which is a cylinder cut in cross section
right below the mitral valve, as seen in this image.
This is a very important landmark
because the posterior pericardium reflection,
that white line seen posterior to the left ventricle,
comes off anterior to the descending aorta.
This allows us to tell if the fluid
that we see there may be pericardial or plural.
In conclusion, I'm glad I could share with you
the SoundBytes module going over part one
of parasternal long axis view of the heart.
There's a great deal of information that we can gain
by looking at the parasternal long axis view,
looking for left ventricular contractility,
the presence of a pericardial effusion,
and also the possibility of right ventricular strain.
So, I hope to see you back in the future
as we're going to cover further modules
going over the parasternal views,
the subxiphoid views, and the apical views
so I'll see you back as sono access continues.

Brightcove ID

5794981632001

https://youtube.com/watch?v=H_3V9xlDMA0

Heart PLAX Zoomed

Read more about Heart PLAX Zoomed

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Applications

Cardiology

Media Library Type

Image

Heart - PLAX View

Read more about Heart - PLAX View

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Applications

Cardiology

Media Library Type

Image

Heart - PLAX Mitral Regurg

Read more about Heart - PLAX Mitral Regurg

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Applications

Cardiology

Media Library Type

Image

3D How To: Parasternal Long Axis View

Read more about 3D How To: Parasternal Long Axis View

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3D animation demonstrating a Parasternal Long Axis view of the heart.

Applications

Cardiology

Clinical Specialties

Anesthesiology (Regional)

Media Library Type

How To Videos

Subtitles

- [Voiceover] A phased array transducer with a cardiac
exam type, is used to perform parasternal long axis
view of the heart.
If possible, place the patient in a left lateral
decubitus position to reduce any lung artifact,
and to bring the heart closer to the anterior chest wall.
Place the transducer at the third, or fourth, intercostal
space immediately left of the sternum.
Move between the third, and fourth intercostal space,
and slide the transducer toward, and away from the sternum
to identify the optimal scanning window.
Assuming the long axis of the heart to be positioned on a
plane from the patients right shoulder to left hip, rotate
the transducer to adjust for the body
habitus of the patient.
The orientation marker, will be at approximately
the 10 o'clock position.
As an alternative approach, this exam may be performed using
an abdomen exam type, with the orientation marker
to the patients right side at approximately
the 4 o'clock position.
They myocardium will appear gray, and the blood filled
chambers will appear hypoechoic.
The descending aorta is seen in cross section as a round
structure posterior to the atrioventricular junction.
This view is used to evaluate the right ventricle, left
ventricle outflow tract, and left ventricle.
Note overall activity of the heart.
Any wall motion abnormality, valve abnormalities,
and the presence of pericardial effusion.

Brightcove ID

5794989686001

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4qerzEW_ASU

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Case: Parasternal Long Axis Pt. 2

Case: Parasternal Long Axis Pt. 2

Case: Parasternal Long Axis Pt. 1

Case: Parasternal Long Axis Pt. 1

Heart PLAX Zoomed

Heart PLAX Zoomed

Heart - PLAX View

Heart - PLAX View

Heart - PLAX Mitral Regurg

Heart - PLAX Mitral Regurg

3D How To: Parasternal Long Axis View

3D How To: Parasternal Long Axis View

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