Bo-Wen Zhao

Zhejiang University | ZJU · Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound & Echocardiography,

Background Mitral valve aneurysm (MVA) was a saccular bulging on mitral valves. It often occurred in anterior leaflet and commonly caused by aortic valve regurgitation complicated by infective endocarditis. Case presentation We reported a 68-year-old female with MVA of posterior leaflet without infective endocarditis. The aneurysm was large and th...

Background: A number of fetal cardiovascular structural defects may alter the hemodynamics of the cardiac chambers resulting in changes in chamber sizes. Quantitative measurements of the sizes of cardiac chambers can augment the diagnostic power of fetal echocardiography. Aims: Using a new left atrial volume tracking (LAVT) method, time-left atr...

Objectives: Measuring anatomical parameters in fetal heart ultrasound images is crucial for the diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD), which is highly dependent on the clinical experience of the sonographer. To address this challenge, we propose an automated segmentation method using the channel-wise knowledge distillation technique. Method...

Objective This study investigated the feasibility and accuracy of fetal intelligent navigation echocardiography (FINE) for the prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) by inexperienced and experienced operators. Method In this prospective study, all volume data sets from 120 fetuses with a broad spectrum of CHD were acquired using spat...

Aims We sought to investigate the relationship of left atrial appendage (LAA) mechanical dispersion (MD) with LAA dense spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) or thrombus, and to compare its usefulness in the identification of thrombogenesis with left atrial (LA) MD or LA/LAA strain parameters in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods We conduct...

Background: HeartModel (HM) is a fully automated adaptive quantification software that can quickly quantify left heart volume and left ventricular function. This study used HM to quantify the left ventricular end-diastolic (LVEDV) and end-systolic volumes (LVESV) of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), coronary artery heart disease with seg...

Objective To establish the Z-score equation of right pulmonary artery (RPA) segments for some valuable pulse-wave Doppler parameters (PWD) and estimate their reference ranges in normal fetuses. Methods Two hundred and seventy-three normal singleton fetuses at 18–38 weeks were enrolled in this fetal echocardiography of a prospective cross-sectional...

Objective To establish a reference range and compare differences among three methods, and then to construct Z-score reference ranges in normal fetuses from the three methods to provide an extra tool for fetal conduction time assessment.MethodsA total of 227 echocardiographic examinations were finally included. Fetal atrioventricular (AV) time and v...

Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics of mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE) in different longitudinal directions in normal fetuses using a new method, automatic cardiac motion quantification (aCMQ). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 164 fetuses with structurally normal hearts. The time-displ...

Background Isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis (IPE) is rare, accounting for 1.5–2% of all cases of infective endocarditis. Herein, we describe a case of isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis with rapid progression in a 28-year-old male. Unlike most patients reported previously who were cured with only anti-infective therapy, without surgery at a...

Objective To compare fetal tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion(TAPSE）Z-scores and mitral annular plane systolic excursion(MAPSE) Z-scores between fetuses with heart failure (HF) and normal fetuses, and to analysis the correlation between CVPS and annular plane systolic excursion(APSE) Z-score(sum of the TAPSE and MAPSE Z-score) in order to e...

Background Left atrial (LA) and left atrial appendage (LAA) dysfunction has been demonstrated to contribute to atrial fibrillation (AF)-related stroke. However, usefulness of LA and LAA mechanics has not been fully compared. We sought to investigate the association of LA and LAA mechanics with stroke and to compare their diagnostic values in the ri...

Objective To compare the accuracy, efficiency, and consistency between experienced and less‐experienced professionals using intelligent navigation echocardiography. Methods In this prospective study, we enrolled 93 second‐ and third‐trimester fetuses with conotruncal defects (CTD) from July 2017 to February 2018. One or more spatiotemporal image c...

The main objective of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of FINE in generating and displaying 3 specific abnormal fetal echocardiography views such as left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) view, right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) view, and 3-vessels and trachea (3VT) view in fetuses with double-outlet right ventricle (DORV...

Objective This study was performed to identify the risk factors for carotid atherosclerotic plaque formation using B-Flow ultrasound. Methods In total, 120 patients who underwent bilateral carotid ultrasound examination were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The intima–media thickness was measured, and the risk factors for carotid atheromato...

Background: Isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis (IPE) is rare, accounting for 1.5-2% of all cases of infective endocarditis. Herein, we describe a case of isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis in a 28-year-old male with rapid progress. Unlike most patients reported before who were cured only by anti-infective therapy, without surgery at early sta...

Objectives To explore the inter‐ and intra‐observer reliability of Sonography‐based Volume Computer Aided Diagnosis (SonoVCAD) in the display of 8 diagnostic planes of fetal echocardiography and to evaluate its efficiency. Methods Three‐dimensional volume data sets of the 56 normal singleton fetuses were acquired from a 4‐chamber view by using a v...

Background: Congenitally corrected transposition of great arteries (CCTGA) is caused by atrioventricular and ventriculoarterial discordance. Cases of CCTGA with spontaneous chordae rupture of tricuspid valve have not been reported before. Case presentation: Here we diagnosed a 38-year-old man, who was found CCTGA 14 years ago, as spontaneous cho...

Background: To evaluate the clinical value of foetal intelligent navigation echocardiography (5D Heart) for the display of key diagnostic elements in basic sections. Methods: 3D volume datasets of 182 normal singleton foetuses were acquired with a four chamber view by using a volume probe. After processing the datasets by using 5D Heart, eight c...

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of fetal intelligent navigation echocardiography (FINE) applied to spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC) volumes in generating 3 specific abnormal cardiac views (left ventricular outflow tract, right ventricular outflow tract, and 3-vessel and trachea) used to screen for d-transposition of the great arteri...

Background: Polyacrylamide hydrogel (PAAG) injections were once common in breast augmentation and have been prohibited for augmentation mammaplasty in China since a large number of patients who underwent breast augmentation with PAAG injections have continued to seek medical advice as a result of related complications. Among all these complication...

Background: Fetal heart evaluation has been proven to have the utility in the differential diagnosis of cardiomyopathies or prediction of perinatal mortality in congenital heart disease. The purpose of this study is to introduce a novel method that can measure the global and regional longitudinal strain of left ventricle in fetuses, described as au...

Objectives: To explore the feasibility of applying smart-planes fetal heart (S-Planes FH) to 3D volumes to generate and display the outflow tract views (OFTVs) and evaluate its agreement and reliability in determining fetal vessel dimensions. Methods: A total of 147 normal fetuses in the second or third trimester were enrolled. Once conventional 2D...

To determine Z-score equations and reference ranges for Doppler flow velocity indices of cardiac outflow tracts in normal fetuses. A prospective cross-sectional echocardiographic study was performed in 506 normal singleton fetuses from 18 to 40 weeks. Twelve pulsed-wave Doppler (PWD) measurements were derived from fetal echocardiography. The regres...

Objective: To investigate right aortic arches (RAA) quantitatively and risk-stratify fetuses with RAA prenatally. Method: A total of 143 singleton fetuses were enrolled. Four measurements were studied, including the angle and distance between the aortic arch (AO) and ductal arch (DA), the diameters of the AO and DA, and the distance growth rate (DG...

Objectives: To establish Z-score models for early diastolic blood flow widths of mitral and tricuspid valves in normal fetuses and compare Z-scores and other blood flow dynamic parameters between normal fetuses and fetuses with dilated coronary sinus (CS). This study seeks to assess whether dilated CS affects cardiac structure or hemodynamics. Meth...

Objectives: To determine Z-score equations and reference ranges for mitral valve-tricuspid valve distance (MTD) and the MTD index in the fetal heart. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was performed in 899 normal singleton fetuses from 14 to 40 weeks' gestation. The MTD and interventricular septum length (IVSL) were measured offline af...

To establish Z-score reference ranges for coronary sinus (CS) diameter in normal fetuses and explore the diagnostic value of CS Z-score in fetuses with persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC). Study of 235 normal fetuses and 30 fetuses with PLSVC was involved. Noncardiac biometrical parameters included biparietal diameter (BPD), femoral length (...

Objectives: To construct Z-score reference ranges for fetal left atrial (LA) size and left atrium-descending aorta distance (LDD or 'post-LA distance') at 20 to 40 weeks' gestation and to compare these parameters between fetuses with isolated total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) and normal fetuses. Methods: 333 normal singleton fe...

This study was undertaken to investigate the correlation of the enhancement degree on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) with the histopathology of carotid plaques and the serum high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Carotid CEUS was performed preoperatively in 115 patients who would...

Objectives: To construct Z-score reference ranges for fetal mitral and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursions (MAPSE and TAPSE), using angular M-mode (AM) and conventional M-mode (CM). Methods: A prospective cross-sectional investigation was conducted on 261 normal singleton fetuses from 22 to 40 weeks' gestation. TAPSE and MAPSE were measu...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphology and function of the left atrial appendage (LAA) in different rhythms of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PaAF) patients using real-time 3D transesophageal echocardiography. This study included 46 patients with PaAF-24 with PaAF with sinus rhythm (PaAF-S) and 22 with PaAF with fibrillation (PaAF-F)...

Objective: To explore the feasibility of XStrainTM in evaluating regional and global systolic function of left ventricle (LV) in uremic cardiomyopathy patients. Methods: A total of 28 uremic patients (group A, normal LV, n=12; group B, LV hypertrophy, n=16) and 16 normal subjects (group C) were enrolled. The dynamic images of apical four chamber vi...

BACKGROUND: Several studies have demonstrated that uremic patients who have preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) could still have the potential for systolic dysfunction. The aim of this study was to assess the differences between the left ventricular (LV) myocardial function in hemodialysis and nondialysis uremic patients based on th...

This study investigated the relationship between carotid plaque neovascularization and diabetes mellitus (DM) by using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography. Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was performed in 104 patients with carotid plaque thicker than 2.0 mm. There were 36 patients with DM and 68 patients without DM. The enhanced intensity in the pl...

Enlargement of the left atrium is an independent predictor of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and an accurate, convenient imaging modality is necessary for clinical practice. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the feasibility of a novel imaging technique, two-dimensional tissue tracking (2DTT), for assessment of left atrial (LA) volume...

: To establish the reference range of the angle between ascending aorta and main pulmonary artery of fetus in the second and third trimester using spatiotemporal image correlation (STIC), and to investigate the value of this angle in prenatal screening of conotruncal defects (CTDs). Volume images of 311 normal fetuses along with 20 fetuses with con...

Synovial sarcomas of the pericardium are extremely rare and associated with poor survival rate. The current case report describes a 45-year-old female who presented with dyspnea upon exertion, a paroxysmal cough, night sweats and recurrent pericardial effusion. The patient was diagnosed with tuberculous pericarditis and received antituberculous dru...

A novel echocardiographic method, vector flow mapping (VFM), acquires velocity vector from color Doppler velocity data. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether VFM could provide useful information on intracardiac flow and helpful to evaluate left ventricular (LV) function. Thirty-eight patients with uremia undergoing hemodialysis and 30 h...

To evaluate echocardiographic characteristics and clinical relevance of color Doppler twinkling artifacts in fetuses with isolated echogenic intracardiac foci (EIF). This study included 50 fetuses with EIF, at 18-38 weeks of gestation. Echocardiographic examination, which was performed using a 1.0-5.0-MHz phased array probe, included gray-scale, co...

To investigate application of fetal echocardiography in diagnosis of fetal arrhythmia and its clinical significance. Fetal echocardiography was performed on 725 fetuses for evaluation of fetal heart structures and arrhythmias. Two-dimensional, M-mode, Color M-mode and pulsed Doppler echocardiography were used. Ninety fetuses were documented with fe...

To directly compare the quality of harmonic imaging (HI) and fundamental imaging (FI) in fetal echocardiography and to determine any differences in image quality between the two modalities. Fetal echocardiograms were performed with the use of FI and HI in 58 fetuses, image quality and visualization of left and right atria, left and right ventricles...

The prevalence of atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) in a general referral population of patients was investigated by use of transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiographies (TEE). Contrast TEE was performed to detect interatrial shunting in patients with ASA. In this population, the prevalence of ASA as determined by TTE was 0.47% (24/5,079),...