Quantitative Parameters of High-Frame-Rate Strain in Patients with Echocardiographically Normal Function

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Echocardiography

Background:

• High-frame-rate echocardiography (HFR-Echo) enables novel quantitative assessments of cardiac mechanics.
• Understanding normal myocardial mechanics is crucial for identifying pathological changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish baseline longitudinal strain parameters and mechanical event timing in healthy individuals using HFR-Echo.
• To investigate the spatial and temporal propagation of mechanical events within the left ventricle.

Main Methods:

• Acquired B-Mode echocardiographic images at 500-1000 images/second using a 3.5 MHz linear array.
• Employed a specialized speckle tracking algorithm for HFR-Echo analysis.
• Defined four key mechanical events from myocardial strain curves in six left ventricular regions.

Main Results:

• Observed statistically significant differences in the onset timing of myocardial shortening across different segments (p < 0.01).
• Identified the interventricular septum's middle region as the spatial origin of tissue shortening in normal hearts.
• Demonstrated HFR-Echo's capability to reveal contraction propagation patterns.

Conclusions:

• Quantitative HFR-Echo strain parameters provide a baseline for assessing myocardial contractile function and abnormality.
• The timing patterns of mechanical events relative to the Q wave may serve as a novel metric for cardiac function assessment.
• This approach holds potential for improved diagnosis and prognosis in cardiovascular diseases.