Feasibility of speckle-tracking echocardiography for assessment of left ventricular dysfunction after cardiopulmonary...

Effects of temporary biventricular pacing after cardiopulmonary bypass are unpredictable, and the utility of speckle-tracking echocardiography in this setting is unclear. Accordingly, speckle-tracking analysis of transgastric echocardiograms taken during cardiac surgery was assessed as a potential tool to measure strain, synchrony, and twist as indices to predict response.

Prospective observational study, in part, with a randomized controlled study of temporary permanent biventricular pacing after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Single-center study at university-affiliated tertiary care hospital.

Twenty-one cardiac surgery candidates with ejection fraction ≤40% and QRS duration ≥100 ms or who were undergoing double-valve surgery.

Transgastric views of the basal, midpapillary, and apical levels of the left ventricle were acquired before and after bypass.

Midpapillary sections were analyzable in 38% of patients. The remainder had epicardial borders extending beyond the field of view (24%) or inadequate image quality (38%). Only 9% of basal or apical sections were analyzable. Midpapillary radial strain and synchrony changed insignificantly after bypass. Variation in fractional area change correlated with changes in radial strain (p = 0.041) but not with synchrony.

Intraoperative transgastric echocardiography is inadequate for speckle-tracking analysis with current techniques. Intraoperative predictors of temporary biventricular pacing response are lacking.