Evaluation of global left ventricular systolic function using three-dimensional echocardiography speckle-tracking...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Echocardiography
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Assessing global left ventricular (LV) systolic function is crucial in cardiology.
• Traditional two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) strain analysis has limitations in accuracy and reproducibility.
• Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) offers potential advancements in strain parameter assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the capacity and reproducibility of 3DE strain parameters for assessing global LV systolic function.
• To compare 3DE strain parameters with conventional 2DE strain measurements.
• To determine the correlation of 3DE strain parameters with LV ejection fraction and indexed output.

Main Methods:

• Investigated 100 patients with varying LV ejection fractions using 2DE and 3DE speckle-tracking strain analyses.
• Acquired longitudinal, circumferential, radial, and area strains using 3DE.
• Compared 2DE and 3DE global longitudinal strain (GLS), correlated 3DE strains with LV ejection fraction, and assessed measurement variability and analysis time.

Main Results:

• 3DE GLS showed high correspondence with 2DE GLS (r = 0.91).
• Global area strain demonstrated the strongest correlation with LV ejection fraction (r = -0.92, P < .001).
• 3DE strain parameters exhibited good intraobserver reproducibility and faster analysis times compared to 2DE.

Conclusions:

• 3DE global area strain is a promising parameter for assessing LV systolic function due to its strong correlation with ejection fraction.
• All evaluated 3DE strain parameters demonstrate good reproducibility.
• 3DE strain analysis is efficient and offers advantages over 2DE methods.