Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review

board; informed consent was waived. Clinical and CT data in 107 patients with distal IMH who received medical treatment were analyzed, including remodeling processes AZD6738 of IMH at follow-up CT. IMH progression was defined as development of aortic dissection (AD) and aneurysm or hematoma increase.

Results: The frequency of focal contrast enhancement was 39.3%, and hematoma was thicker in patients with focal contrast enhancement than in those without (12.3 mm +/- 3.6 [standard deviation] vs 10.1 mm +/- 4.1, P = .006). Although development of AD occurred more frequently in patients with focal contrast enhancement (21% eFT508 molecular weight vs 3%, P = .006), hematoma resorption (57% vs 71%) was the most common pattern of remodeling in both groups without

any significant difference (P = .148). The frequency of development of aortic aneurysm (17% vs 14%, P = .690) and increase of hematoma (0% vs 5%, P = .278) was not significantly different between groups. The 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year survival rates were 96.3% +/- 1.8, 95.2% +/- 2.1, 87.9% +/- 3.4, and 80.7% +/- 4.4, respectively. Patients with IMH progression showed lower survival rates than those without (P = .028). While no significant difference in the overall survival rates could be demonstrated in patients with and those without focal contrast enhancement (P = .442), our study had only 17% power to detect a difference of 10%. Initial maximal aortic diameter was the only factor associated with survival rates (hazard ratio = 1.129; 95% confidence interval: 1.063, 1.199). The optimal cutoff for prediction of mortality within 7 years was 41 mm.

Conclusion: Urgent intervention for patients with focal contrast enhancement is not necessary during the acute stage, and long-term close monitoring with imaging is a better option considering diverse remodeling processes of distal IMH. (C) RSNA, 2011″
“Background: Echocardiographic (ECHO)-guided pacemaker optimization (PMO) in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) nonresponders Angiogenesis inhibitor acutely

improves left ventricular (LV) function. However, the chronic results of LV pacing in this group are less understood. Methods: We retrospectively studied 28 CRT nonresponders optimized based on ECHO to LV pacing and compared them to 28 age- and gender-matched patients optimized to biventricular (BiV) pacing. ECHOs with tissue Doppler imaging assessed LV hemodynamics before, immediately after, and 29 +/- 16 months after PMO. Also, 56 age- and gender-matched CRT responders were included for comparison of clinical outcomes. Results: PMO resulted in acute improvements in longitudinal LV systolic function and several measures of dyssynchrony, with greater improvements in the LV paced group. Chronic improvements in ejection fraction (EF) (3.2 +/- 7.7%), and left ventricle end-systolic volume (LVESV) (-11 +/- 36 mL) and one dyssynchrony measure were seen in the combined group.