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Updated: Mar 1, 2026
Evaluation of Left Ventricular Structure and Function using 3D Echocardiography
Published on: October 28, 2020
Association of pulse pressure with left ventricular geometry and function in elderly nonhypertensive patients with
Qingqing Wang1, Kaibin Tan2, Hongmei Xia2
1Department of Ultrasound, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
Purpose:
The aims of this study were to investigate and compare the left ventricular (LV) geometry and function in elderly nonhypertensive type 2 diabetic patients with normal (NPP, <60 mm Hg) and with high (HPP, ≥60 mmHg) 24-hour pulse pressure, and to explore the independent predictors of LV strain values in these patients.
Methods:
A total of 76 elderly nonhypertensive type 2 diabetic patients with normal (≥55%) LV ejection fraction (LVEF) were included, 36 of whom had HPP. The control group included 40 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers with normal NPP. Conventional echocardiography and three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (3DSTE) were performed and LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS), global area strain (GAS), and global radial strain (GRS) were measured.
Results:
Significant differences in the two-dimensional LV geometry were found among the three groups (p = 0.015), and concentric geometry was most prevalent in the diabetic patients with HPP. The diabetic patients with NPP only showed significantly lower GLS than the controls (p < 0.05). However, the diabetic patients with HPP showed significantly lower LVEF and severely lower strain values in all directions than the controls and the diabetic patients with NPP (p < 0.01or p < 0.05 or p < 0.001). Fasting plasma glucose, HPP, and body mass index were independently associated with all strain parameters in diabetic patients.
Conclusions:
The combination of conventional echocardiography and 3DSTE could detect LV subclinical abnormalities in nonhypertensive type 2 diabetic patients with NPP and HPP. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 45:416-425, 2017.
