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Updated: Mar 8, 2026
Evaluation of Left Ventricular Structure and Function using 3D Echocardiography
Published on: October 28, 2020
Evaluation of longitudinal left ventricular function in patients with coronary artery ectasia and vitamin D
Hasan Aghajani1, Mohsen Faal2, Ali Hosseinsabet1
1Cardiology Department, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Insights
Patients with coronary artery ectasia (CAE) and vitamin D deficiency exhibit impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic function. This impairment was detected using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE).
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Echocardiography
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) involves coronary artery dilation, potentially affecting cardiac function.
- Vitamin D deficiency is common in CAE patients and linked to impaired left ventricular (LV) function.
- Previous studies suggest a link between vitamin D deficiency and reduced LV function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate longitudinal LV myocardial function in patients with CAE and vitamin D deficiency.
- To compare LV function between patients with CAE and vitamin D deficiency and controls with vitamin D deficiency and near-normal coronary arteries.
- To investigate the impact of CAE and vitamin D deficiency on systolic and diastolic LV function using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE).
Main Methods:
- The study included 21 patients with CAE and vitamin D deficiency (<50% coronary artery stenosis) and 31 controls with vitamin D deficiency and near-normal coronary arteries.
- All participants had confirmed vitamin D deficiency.
- Longitudinal LV myocardial function was assessed using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE).
Main Results:
- All evaluated indices of longitudinal LV systolic and diastolic function were significantly reduced in patients with CAE and vitamin D deficiency compared to controls.
- Specifically, absolute values of systolic strain, systolic strain rate, early diastolic strain rate, and late diastolic strain rate were lower in the CAE group.
- These findings indicate impaired myocardial mechanics in the presence of both CAE and vitamin D deficiency.
Conclusions:
- Left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions are impaired in patients with coronary artery ectasia and vitamin D deficiency.
- 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) is a valuable tool for detecting these functional impairments.
- The study highlights the combined negative impact of CAE and vitamin D deficiency on cardiac function.
Objectives:
Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is defined as the dilation of at least one segment of the coronary arteries that reaches at least 1.5 times the size of a normal neighboring segment. It has been shown that left ventricular (LV) diastolic function is impaired in patients with CAE. Also, it has been shown that LV function is impaired in vitamin D-deficient subjects compared with vitamin D-sufficient subjects and vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in CAE patients. We hypothesized that LV function is impaired in patients with CAE so we evaluated longitudinal LV myocardial function by 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) in patients with CAE and vitamin D deficiency without significant coronary artery stenosis and compared the results with those of subjects with vitamin D deficiency and near-normal coronary arteries.
Methods:
Our study population comprised 21 consecutive patients with CAE and without significant coronary artery stenosis (<50%) and 31 control subjects with near-normal coronary arteries. All subjects had vitamin D deficiency.
Results:
All 2DSTE-derived indices of longitudinal LV function, comprised of the absolute values of systolic strain (14.0±2.7% vs 15.4±2.3%, P=.039), systolic strain rate (1.2±0.2/s vs 1.3±0.2/s, P=.015), early diastolic strain rate (1.1±0.3/s vs 1.3±0.3 s-1 , P=.030), and late diastolic strain rate (0.8±0.2/s vs 1±0.2/s, P=.005), were reduced in the patients with CAE and vitamin D deficiency.
Conclusions:
The systolic and diastolic functions of the LV in the patients with CAE and vitamin D deficiency were impaired as evaluated by 2DSTE.
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