Characteristics of sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction using speckle-tracking echocardiography: a feasibility study

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Critical Care Medicine
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Septic cardiomyopathy is a frequent complication in severe sepsis and septic shock.
• Echocardiographic assessment of myocardial deformation may offer insights into sepsis pathophysiology and outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association of novel global and segmental echocardiographic markers of myocardial deformation with adverse sepsis outcomes.
• To assess the feasibility of using two-dimensional speckle tracking for evaluating myocardial deformation in sepsis patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective observational feasibility study including 54 ICU patients with sepsis.
• Echocardiograms performed within the first week of sepsis diagnosis.
• Assessment of global and segmental left ventricular longitudinal strain (LVLS) and tissue mitral annular displacement (TMAD) using 2D speckle tracking.

Main Results:

• Reduced systolic LVLS in the basal anterior segment was associated with in-hospital mortality.
• Global LVLS correlated with lower ejection fraction.
• Reduced global TMAD showed a non-significant trend towards increased mortality and shorter hospital stay.

Conclusions:

• Speckle-tracking echocardiography is feasible for assessing myocardial deformation in sepsis.
• Global and segmental deformation indices are linked to ejection fraction.
• Further research is needed to validate these novel indices for predicting sepsis outcomes.