Left ventricular (LV) thrombi may be caused by various conditions, particularly myocardial infarction. In most cases, LV thrombus occurs in patients with a significantly reduced ejection fraction. A LV thrombus is extremely rare in patients with normal LV function. We report a case of LV thrombus initially detected on transthoracic echocardiography and confirmed using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with normal LV wall motion. We highlight the rarity of this condition and the usefulness of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of LV thrombus.

Pulmonary angiography has been regarded as the gold standard tool for diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. However, due to its invasive nature and the development and growing availability of non-invasive diagnostic imaging tests, such as computed tomographic pulmonary angiography, the role of pulmonary angiography in diagnosis of pulmonary embolism has waned rapidly, so that pulmonary angiography has become a state-of-the-art procedure available in a decreasing number of centres. Pulmonary angiography is the definitive diagnostic test, but complications of this procedure, including puncture site prob-lems, cardiac arrhythmia, and cardiac or vessel injury have been reported. However, few cases of cardiac vein rupture during pulmonary angiography have been reported. Here we report on a case of cardiac vein rupture which occurred during pulmo-nary angiography in an 82-year-old woman who underwent pulmonary angiography.

본 연구는 소아 심장 전산화단층촬영 검사에서 조영제의 과다 사용을 최소화하며 피폭 선량 저감화를 목적으로 조영제의 주입속도 및 심장 도달 시간 등의 변수를 고려한 스캔 지연 시간을 경험론적 방법으로 수식화함으로써 4개의 심방과 심실이 동시 조영증강 영상을 획득할 수 있는 최적화 방안을 제시하고자 하였다. 소아 심장전산화단층 검사를 시행한 소아 환자 30명을 대상으로 정성적 평가, 정량적 평가, 선량평가를 실시하였다. 결론적으로 본 연구에서 개발한 체중에 따른 조영제 양과 주입속도에 따른 스캔 지연 시간을 계산하는 경험론적 방법을 적용함으로써 왼 오른 심방과 심실의 동시 조영증강에서 소아 심장 판독에 적합한 300 HU 값 이상으로 나타났고 명확성, 선예도, 노이즈에 대한 정성적 영상 평가에서 질적 우수성을 보였으며 선량평가에서도 소아가 받는 피폭선량도 명확하게 감소되었다. 따라서 본 연구는 임상에서 조영제 과다 사용으로 인한 부작용 감소 효과를 기대 할 수 있었으며 방사선 피폭 저감화를 기대 할 수 있는 이점을 가지고 최적의 영상을 만드는데 중요한 역할을 할 것으로 판단되었다.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate perfusion density of an old myocardial infarction using cardiac multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) with arterial phase. We included 56 patients with an old myocardial infarction who had undergone medical treatment, primary angioplasty or bypass graft. Cardiac MDCT without stress perfusion was used for calculation of density of myocardial perfusion and global left ventricular function in patients was also analyzed according to initial and last follow-up echocardiography. All patients showed decreased perfusion in the left ventricular wall. Densities of normal ventricular wall, cavity of the left ventricle, and infracted wall were 105±29 HU, 471±117 HU, and 11±29 HU (-64 HU-57 HU), respectively. Subendocardial fat depositions were observed in 19 patients (34%). Ejection fractions of initial and last follow-up periods near to the date of cardiac CT were 61±9 % and 57±12 %, respectively. In conclusion, decreased perfusion less than 60 HU in cardiac CT with arterial phase was helpful in diagnosus of an old myocardial infarction.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are promising cell source because of their unique self-renewal and pluripotency. Although hESC-derived cardiac cells are currently generated worldwide, cryopreservation of these cells is still limited due to low rate of post-thaw survival. Cryopreservation of hESC-derived cardiac cells is critical in that their long-term storage can accelerate their use in regenerative medicine. However, to date, there are few reports on efficient cryopreservation and post-thaw survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells. In this study, we evaluated the effects of ginsenoside, which is known to improve survival of rat embryonic cardiomyocytes against myocardial ischemia injury in diabetic rats (Wu et al., 2011), on the survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells after thawing. We induced differentiation into cardiac cells using our previously reported method (Kim et al., 2011). Differentiated, pre-beating stage cardiac cells were cryopreserved using either mass cryopreservation or vitrification. To evaluate the effects of ginsenoside (Re, Rb), we compared three sets: pre- and post-thaw treatment, pre- or post-thaw treatment only. The survival of post-thaw cardiac cells were evaluated using Trypan-blue and Annexin V staining. In addition, the three groups were treated with ROCK inhibitor Y-27632, and compared with non-treatment groups. The effect of ginsenoside was significant in post-thaw treatment group, i.e, thawed cells expressed cardiac specific genes and showed specific functionality such as spontaneous beating. Taken together, we demonstrated favorable effects of ginsenoside on the survival of hESC-derived cardiac cells after cryopreservation and thawing. These results suggest a possible application of well-known cardioprotectant ginsenoside in cell-based tissue engineering using hESC-derived cardiac cells.

본 연구의 목적은 cardiac MRI를 이용하여 확장기와 수축기의 정량적 측정을 통해 각 단면의 심박출률의 차이를 알 아보고자 하였다. 총 12명(정상 7명, 심근교 1명, 부정맥 4명)을 대상으로 심첨에서부터 대동맥궁 쪽으로 단면을 얻 었다. 수축기와 확장기 영상을 확대하여 경계를 정하였고, 이 면적을 바탕으로 1, 3, 5, 6-7단면의 심박출률을 구하였 다. 정상인의 평균 박출률은 각각 1, 3, 5, 6-7단면에서 67.14%, 66.24%, 65.63%, 그리고 65.29% 로 나타났다. 반 면. 환자들의 평균 박출률은 각각 1, 3, 5, 6-7단면에서 61.74%, 60.92%, 60.89%, 그리고 61.89%로 나타났다. 본 연구를 통해 cardiac MRI를 이용한 특정단면의 심박출률은 각 단면마다 큰 차이가 없음을 알 수 있었고 따라서 cardic MRI를 이용한 심박출계수의 평가는 대표 단면만으로 가능함을 알 수 있었다.