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Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Transthoracic Speckle Tracking Echocardiography for the Quantitative Assessment of Left Ventricular Myocardial Deformation
Published on: October 20, 2016
Impact of global left ventricular afterload on left ventricular function in asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis: a
Patrizio Lancellotti1, Erwan Donal, Julien Magne
1Department of Cardiology, University Hospital, Domaine Universitaire du Sart Tilman, B.35-4000 Liège, Belgium. plancellotti@chu.ulg.ac.be
Aims:
The present study sought to assess the effect of global left ventricular (LV) afterload on LV myocardial systolic function in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) and preserved LV ejection fraction.
Methods And Results:
We prospectively examined the LV myocardial deformation (i.e. longitudinal, radial, and circumferential) by two-dimensional speckle tracking in 173 patients with asymptomatic severe AS. Thirty-eight patients (22%) had low flow as determined by a low stroke volume index (
Conclusion:
In asymptomatic patients with severe AS, LV ejection fraction markedly underestimates the extent of myocardial systolic impairment. Intrinsic myocardial dysfunction is particularly common in patients with increased global LV afterload, and especially in the subset of patients with low-flow AS.
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