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Ultrasonographic assessment of organs other than the heart in patients with heart failure

  • Review Article–Cardiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

The number of patients with heart failure has been dramatically increasing in Japan in association with aging of the society. This phenomenon is referred to as a heart failure pandemic. The fundamental origin of heart failure is cardiac dysfunction. Echocardiography is widely used to assess cardiac function, as well as to diagnose heart diseases that cause cardiac dysfunction. However, the severity of heart failure is not necessarily correlated with that of cardiac dysfunction. This is partly explained by the fact that heart failure induces dysfunction of organs other than the heart through hemodynamic deterioration and neurohumoral changes. In addition, one of the characteristics of patients with heart failure, particularly elderly patients, is the presence of numerous comorbidities. Symptoms of heart failure are not specific, and assessment of cardiac function, particularly left ventricular diastolic function, has not been established. Thus, ultrasonographic assessment of organs other than the heart helps the diagnosis of heart failure, assessment of the severity of heart failure, and development of our understanding of the pathophysiology in each patient. This review summarizes current knowledge about the usefulness of ultrasonographic assessment of organs other than the heart in heart failure.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Takuya Ishisugi, MS, and Mari Miyagi, MS, for their assistance.

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant numbers 16K09435, 17K00855, 18K10671, and 19K08582, and the Japan Heart Foundation (Tokyo, Japan).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishi-cho, Yonago, 683-8503, Japan

    Kazuhiro Yamamoto, Yoshiharu Kinugasa, Natsuko Mukai-Yatagai & Masahiko Kato

  2. Health Service Center, Shimane University, Matsue, Japan

    Shinobu Sugihara

Authors
  1. Kazuhiro Yamamoto
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  2. Yoshiharu Kinugasa
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  3. Shinobu Sugihara
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  4. Natsuko Mukai-Yatagai
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  5. Masahiko Kato
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Correspondence to Kazuhiro Yamamoto.

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Yamamoto, K., Kinugasa, Y., Sugihara, S. et al. Ultrasonographic assessment of organs other than the heart in patients with heart failure. J Med Ultrasonics 46, 389–397 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-019-00953-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-019-00953-3

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