This systematic review is dedicated to the role of echocardiography in diagnostics of possible cardiovascular complications in patients with COVID-19, the emerging infectious disease that has recently challenged global healthcare. The results of the largest current available clinical studies on the given topic from the leading medical databases were analyzed. Up-to-date data about the beneficial advantages and possible limitations of the use of echocardiography in the highly contagious disease pandemic is provided.

The review provides modern insights into methods for identifying a variety of scenarios that are currently classified as chronic coronary syndrome and involve different risks for subsequent cardiovascular events. The assessment of pre-test probability and determinants that enhance and reduce the possibility of diagnosing coronary heart disease are considered. The necessity and sequence of application of both simple instrumental methods of diagnostics of chronic coronary disease (electrocardiography, ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring, exercise electrocardiogram, echocardiography) and more complex ones requiring specially trained personnel and modern equipment (stress echocardiography, computed tomography and invasive coronary angiography) are discussed. The recommended modern diagnostic algorithm in symptomatic patients with suspected coronary heart disease is presented.

Modern technologies for assessing myocardial strain by means of speckle-tracking echocardiography allow to analyze not only the ventricles of the heart, but also the left atrium (LA). Evaluation of LA strain in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) can be useful in the terms of diagnostic in patients with first-time symptoms that may indicate the onset of heart failure with a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. In patients with CHF, LA strain may be important for evaluating the prognosis. Assessment of the dynamics of LA strain in patients with heart failure may indicate the course of CHF and the effectiveness of therapy. The purpose of this article is to analyze the data on the significance of LA longitudinal strain indicators for the diagnosis and management of patients with CHF.

The exercise ECG test is traditionally the first choice in patients with suspected CHD, as the most accessible, despite the fact that its sensitivity and specificity are 68 % and 77 %, respectively. Description of a clinical case of multivessel coronary artery disease in a patient with a negative result of exercise ECG test is presented.

Neuron irritation lies at the heart of intraoperative motor mapping and varies with the general anaesthetic type and dose. Basing on the analysis of 63 cases (male/female 25/38, aged 21–69) of brain tumors (glial tumors, metastasis, cavernous angiomas) the study explores the role of propofol and sevoflurane in the affectability of cortex neurons during the intraoperative neurophysiological mapping. The study has clearly demonstrated that the liminal current strength is notably higher when inhalation anaesthesia (sevoflurane) is used, than in the case of TIVA (propofol). The propofol activity in the doses causing brain activity depression results in a sharp increase in the excitability threshold. In contrast, sevoflurane causes a steady dose-related rise in the liminal current strength during the motor area galvanic stimulation due to the suppression of affectability and conduction in the nervous system.

Triphasic waves are high-amplitude (>70 µV) positive sharp transients preceded and followed by relatively low-amplitude negative waves. The distribution is generalized and tends to have a repetition rate of approximately 1 to 2 Hz. This EEG-pattern is traditionally associated with hepatic encephalopathy, although they have been observed in a wide array of neurological disorders including subcortical white-matter disease, infections, metabolic disturbances and nonconvulsive status epilepticus.

American Clinical Neurophysiology Society suggested Standardized Critical Care EEG Terminology (2012). One of the goals was to eliminate terms with clinical connotations, such as ‘triphasic waves’, a term that implies a metabolic encephalopathy with no relationship to seizures for many clinicians. The term ‘triphasic waves’ was replaced by ‘Generalized periodic discharges (GPDs) with triphasic morphology’. The clinical significance ofthese waveforms and their relationship with seizures and prognosis has been debated, and differentiation between interictal patterns, patternsassociated with seizures, and the patterns representing nonconvulsive status epilepticus have been concluded to be a challenge. In cases of uncertainty, the decision to treat should follow on a thorough evaluation with a continuous EEG monitoring and using a short-acting benzodiazepine or non-sedating antiepileptic drugs in order to discern the effects of the pattern on the patient’s clinical exam and EEG.

To date, it has been shown that juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is a common form of genetic (idiopathic) generalized epilepsy. The study of neurophysiological factors that inhibiting and provocating photosensitivity on the electroencephalogram (EEG) in JME expands our understanding of this disease, which is important for diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

The purpose of this review is to analyze neurophysiological techniques that inhibiting and provocating photosensitivity on EEG in patients with JME.

Materials and methods. We searched for full-text publications in Russian and English over the past two decades in the databases eLibrary, PubMed, Web of Science, OxfordPress, Springer, Clinicalkeys using keywords: juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), diagnostics, neurophysiology, electroencephalography (EEG), eye opening, photostimulation, eye closure sensitivity, photoparoxysmal response (PPR), epilepsy.

Results. Currently, visual triggers such as eye closure, eye closure sensitivity (ECS)/fixation-off sensitivity, other than photosensitivity, are routinely used for EEG in patients with JME, but are rarely scientifically investigated for this pathology. However, it has been shown that ECS is present in 15–25 % of patients with JME. Trigger photostimulation is most effective for detecting photosensitivity in JME compared to intermittent (rhythmic) photostimulation. The frequency of photosensitivity in patients with JME is variable — from 30 % to 54 %. The exact mechanisms of these phenomena are still unknown. It is assumed that ECS and photosensitivity are expressions of hyperexcitability of the occipital cortex in JME.

Conclusion. The analyzed neurophysiological and electroclinical studies indicate positive changes in the diagnosis of JME and changes in our understanding of this disease. The mechanism of ECS and photosensitivity in JME is unknown, which is a reason for future research to clarify their consequences, including their impact on the prognosis of the disease and their role in the development of pharmacoresistance. However, despite the characteristic clinical picture and the progress of modern neurophysiological research methods, the question of the role of photosensitivity in this form of epilepsy remains a problem for practicing neurologists, and the proposed EEG protocols need to be modified and more widely implemented in real clinical practice. Variable light and color patterns in broadcast or video game material with a high rate of image change of high-contrast stimulation (more than 3 repetitions per second) can cause seizures in some patients with JME. This requires changing approaches to the neurophysiological diagnosis of photosensitivity in JME and the use of combined triggers for video EEG monitoring.

This article is the third part from set of materials telling about figurative comparisons and eponyms, which have become an integral part of modern functional and ultrasound diagnostics. It is impossible to imagine modern angiology without ultrasound. Examination of peripheral nerve is currently becoming more widespread in practical health care. In this article you can find the diseases and anatomical terms which was named after the great scientists who first described them: Valsalva, Leonardo da Vinci, Giacomini, Paget, Schroetter, Takayasu, Burger, Reynaud, Menkeberg, Willis, Scarpa, Hunter, etc. Such figurative comparisons are described as ‘Mickey Mouse sign’, ‘one-eared Mickey Mouse’, ‘Egyptian eye’ (‘Pharaoh’s eye’), ‘royal vein’, ‘bunny spectrum’, ‘honeycombs’, ‘salt-pepper’, ‘electric cable’ etc. The terms that will be discussed in the article have not only scientific, but also applied meaning. The article will be useful and interesting to students of medical universities, residents and doctors, whom it will help to check and possibly, update their knowledge.

This is a narrative literature review of current status of normal hand thermography, methods and technique of their acquisition and analysis. Some physiological processes underlying the thermography picture formation also discussed.