Left ventricular remodeling and dysfunction in systemic lupus erythematosus: a three-dimensional speckle tracking...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Rheumatology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can affect cardiovascular health.
• Early detection of cardiac dysfunction in SLE is crucial for patient management.
• Traditional two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography may not detect subtle cardiac changes in SLE.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate left ventricular (LV) global structure and systolic function in SLE patients.
• To utilize three-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking imaging (STI) for comprehensive cardiac assessment in SLE.
• To correlate cardiac function parameters with disease activity in SLE.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-four SLE patients and 34 healthy controls underwent 3D echocardiography.
• Key parameters assessed included LV ejection fraction (LVEF), sphericity index, LV mass, and global strain components (GLS, GCS, GAS, GRS).
• Disease activity in SLE patients was quantified using the SLEDAI-2K score.

Main Results:

• SLE patients exhibited significantly reduced global longitudinal, circumferential, area, and radial strain compared to controls.
• Increased 3D LV mass was observed in SLE patients, despite similar sphericity index and 2D LVEF.
• Reduced GLS, GAS, and GRS correlated with severe disease activity, and GLS was independently associated with the SLEDAI score.

Conclusions:

• 3D STI is a simple and rapid technique for identifying early cardiac abnormalities in SLE patients.
• This advanced imaging modality can detect systolic function impairments not evident with 2D echocardiography.
• 3D STI aids in assessing the impact of SLE on cardiac structure and function, especially in relation to disease activity.