Congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS) is the first described and most common inherited arrhythmia in the absence of structural heart disease, which is inherited in a predominantly autosomal dominant manner, characterized by an increased risk of developing polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, syncope and/or seizures, and sudden cardiac death. According to modern ideas about the spectrum of genetic variants that can contribute to the genetic architecture of LQTS, this disease cannot be considered as a monogenic pathology. This is supported by the presence not only of pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in the canonical LQTS susceptibility genes, but also of common potentially proarrhythmic variants or functional risk alleles and poorly penetrating rare variants. Since LQTS is a genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous disease, timely verification of the diagnosis of LQTS and risk stratification of arrhythmic events, as well as the implementation of a genotype-specific therapeutic strategy, seem relevant.

Relevance. Right bundle branch block (RBBB) has characteristic manifestations on an ECG, however, in clinical practice, when combined with another pathology – myocardial infarction, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, combined damage to the conduction system, etc. difficulties may arise in interpretation.

The purpose of the study. Development of RBBB criteria based on three-dimensional vector analysis with an assessment of the rate of formation of a spatial vector loop.

Material and methods. The main group included 64 patients with BPH, including 42 men and 22 women, with an average age of 31.1±9.62 (M±σ) years. Patients with complete and incomplete RBBB were identified according to the accepted ECG criteria. The control group included 80 healthy patients with an average age of 31.5±6.3 (M±σ) years, 54 of them women and 26 men. Synchronous recording of 12 standard leads was performed in all patients, followed by reconstruction of a three-dimensional ECG using the EasyECG Rest ATES Medica software (Russia).

The results of the study and conclusions. The criteria of RBBB based on three-dimensional ECG with an analysis of the spatial vector loop tracing rate have been determined, which remain effective in combination with left anterior fascicular block, and also allow for differential diagnosis with myocardial infarction, with epsilon wave in arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia and other diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Determination of the global function of the left ventricle (LV) is one of the most important tasks of assessment of the methods of cardiovascular imaging. Nowadays ejection fraction LV (EF LV) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) calculated by echocardiography are widely used for this purpose. However, the methods have a number of limitations that require finding effective and accessible indicators that can be used in daily practice. One of the proposed indicators is LV global function index (LV GFI), calculated by echocardiography and taking into account cardiac remodeling.

The purpose of this study was to determine LV GFI values in healthy individuals, to compare the reproducibility of different rates of global function LV and to explore ratios depend LV GFI on age and gender in healthy individuals.

Methods. Between 2022 and 2023. was examined included 100 healthy individuals with average age of 38.0±9.8 (36.1–40.0). Of these, 20 examined randomly selected assessed intraindividual and interindividual variability of global function LV. All patients were done a transthoracic echocardiography. The LV GFI by echocardiography was defined by the ratio of stroke volume divided by LV total volume defined as the sum of mean LV cavity and myocardial volumes.

Results. The study determined normal LV GFI values in healthy persons – 28.1±3.9%. Correlation analysis showed a high degree of interrelation between the indicators for intraindividual and interindividual variability in relation to LV GFI (p <0.001, Pearson correlation coefficient – 0.780 and coefficient of variation – 5.1 for intraindividual variability, p <0.001, Pearson correlation coefficient – 0.725 and coefficient of variation – 5.2 for interindividual variability). The differences of LV GFI values were statistically significant according to age (p=0.002) in healthy individuals. LV GFI values were significantly higher (p <0.001) in women (29.6±4.0%) than in men (26.8±3.3%).

Conclusions. LV GFI values were determined in healthy persons by echocardiography. The results of the study showed high intraindividual and interindividual variability of LV GFI. LV GFI values were dependent on age and gender of healthy persons.

The aim of this article is to evaluate the parameters of left atrial (LA) strain in 2D and 4D modes and to identify early markers of diastolic dysfunction in young subjects (aged 18 to 44) with the first clinical and laboratory diagnosis of metabolic syndrome (MS) according to the criteria of the International Federation of Diabetologists (IDF). All subjects underwent transthoracic echocardiography (EchoCG) to study structural and functional changes in the myocardium, with an assessment of LA strain in 2D and 4D modes. In the work we determined markers of LV dysfunction using Speckle tracking technology, and also investigated correlations between the main components of MS and echocardiographic parameters. Using comparative analysis, the main group showed statistically lower values of LА strain during reservoir and conduit phases in 2D-mode compared to the control group. LА strain during the reservoir phase (LASr) in 2D combined with standard parameters of left ventricular diastolic function such as LASr/(VE/e’mean), VE/LASr also had significant differences in subjects with MS. Components of MS such as obesity (body mass index, waist circumference), arterial hypertension (elevated systolic blood pressure), dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia) and glycemia had moderate negative correlations with LASr in 2D when identifying a group of patients with LA strain during the reservoir phase of less than 43.5%, based on the lower quartile of healthy individuals.

Masked hypertension (MH) in children is defined as having office blood pressure (BPoff) below the 95th percentile and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) values at or above the 95th percentile. The prevalence of MH in children varies and can reach up to 60%, depending on the study population or the method of BP measurement.

Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of MH and the role of self-measured blood pressure at home (BPhome) in the diagnosis of MH in children.

Materials and methods. In a simple non-interventional study, 149 children (84 boys, 65 girls) aged 10 to 17 years (mean age 14.34±1.91) with BPoff below the 95th percentile were examined. A comparison was made between BPoff, BPhome, and ABPM.

Results and discussion. The proportion of patients with stage 1 MH was 28.9%. The prevalence of MH among boys was 29.7%, and among girls, it was 27.7%. According to home self-measurements, 48.3% of patients had systolic BPhome above the 95th percentile, and among them, 54.2% were diagnosed with MH using ABPM. Only 5.2% of patients with normal BPhome were found to have MH based on ABPM. In the MH group, 74.4% of patients were overweight or obese, with boys predominating in the obesity subgroup (84%).

Conclusion. The results highlight the important role of self-measured BP at home in children as an indication for ABPM to diagnose MH, despite the lack of standardized procedures and the use of various devices for home BP measurement. The likely phenotype of a patient with MH in pediatric practice is an adolescent boy with obesity and episodes of elevated BP during home self-measurement.

Objective. To evaluate the potential of comprehensive multiparametric ultrasound examination for screening and monitoring comorbid pathology in patients with metabolic syndrome, chronic diffuse liver diseases, and heart failure.

Materials and methods. Between 2023 and 2024, a total of 84 patients undergoing treatment in cardiology and gastroenterology departments were examined. The main study group included individuals with overweight (BMI >25), signs of metabolic syndrome with confirmed liver steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or other diffuse liver diseases. The patients underwent general and biochemical blood tests, lipid profile analysis, abdominal ultrasound, transient elastography, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in «Whole Body» mode to assess abdominal fat structure, quantitative ultrasound liver steatometry, and transthoracic echocardiography in 44 patients. The control group (n=40) consisted of healthy individuals.

Results. In the study group, elevated liver transaminases were observed. Elastography revealed predominant values in the F2–F3 range, indicative of venous congestion of the liver (in combination with ultrasound signs) and/or the development of clinically significant fibrosis. According to quantitative ultrasound steatometry, patients with liver steatosis values in the S1–S2 and S2–S3 ranges were equally frequent, although a slight predominance of S1–S2 (clinically insignificant steatosis) was noted. Moderate structural and functional myocardial abnormalities were detected in both groups.

Conclusions. Multiparametric ultrasound examination of the liver is a crucial method for diagnosing and monitoring comorbid pathology in patients with diffuse liver diseases, metabolic syndrome, and heart failure. It enables early detection and assessment of liver steatosis and fibrosis, providing quantitative data that correlate with histological findings from liver biopsy specimens.

Background. To study the normal temperature values of the anterior surface of the knee joint in professional athletes from Russian national teams using infrared thermography.

Materials and methods. The study included 160 professional athletes (73 males and 87 females) with no diagnosed knee joint pathologies. Temperature measurements were performed using the NEC Thermo Tracer TH9100 infrared camera, capturing data from the anterior knee surface and patella. The study was conducted under standardized conditions to eliminate external influences.

Results. The median anterior knee surface temperature was 30.58 °C for the right knee and 30.54 °C for the left knee. The patellar temperature was 30.28 and 30.12 °C respectively. No significant differences were observed between the sides.

Conclusions. The obtained data can serve as reference values for monitoring knee joint conditions in professional athletes. Temperature indicators were comparable to those seen in early-stage osteoarthritis patients, warranting further research on the impact of intense physical activity on knee joint thermoregulation.

In October 1924, Willem Einthoven (1860–1927) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for «his discovery of the technique of electrocardiography». The article describes the main scientific achievements of the famous scientist, the founder of the electrocardiographic method of research.