Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 31, 2025
Echocardiographic Assessment of Cardiac Anatomy and Function in Adult Rats
Published on: December 13, 2019
Value of Autostrain LV in the study of left ventricular systolic function and synchronization in patients with
Wanqing Li1, Lili Ge1, Yuhong Li1
1Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, Liaoning, China.
Insights
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can cause cardiac issues. Autostrain LV and 3DQA can detect early myocardial strain and synchrony changes in SLE patients, aiding prognosis.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Rheumatology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Cardiac abnormalities in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are understudied.
- Cardiovascular events significantly impact SLE patient prognosis.
- Early assessment of myocardial systolic function and synchrony is crucial for SLE management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate early changes in left ventricular myocardial strain and synchrony in SLE patients.
- To compare the effectiveness of Autostrain LV and 3D quantitative analysis (3DQA) in assessing cardiac function in SLE.
- To establish the reproducibility of these imaging techniques.
Main Methods:
- Ninety SLE patients were stratified into stable, mildly active, and moderately active groups based on SLE Disease Activity Index (SLE-DAI-2000) scores.
- Thirty healthy individuals served as controls.
- Autostrain LV and 3DQA were employed to measure left ventricular systolic function, strain parameters, and synchrony.
Main Results:
- Increased SLE disease activity correlated with decreased longitudinal strain and increased strain peak time standard deviation (Tls-SD).
- SLE patients exhibited prolonged synchrony parameters (Tmsv-17-SD, Tmsv-17-Dif) compared to controls.
- Autostrain LV and 3DQA showed good agreement in measuring synchrony, with 3DQA demonstrating superior repeatability.
Conclusions:
- Autostrain LV effectively detects early left ventricular myocardial strain changes in SLE.
- 3DQA quantitatively assesses left ventricular systolic synchrony in SLE patients.
- Both methods are reproducible, with 3DQA offering higher sensitivity for detecting synchronous motion changes.
Background:
There are relatively few studies investigating cardiac structural and functional abnormalities associated with systemic lupus erythematous (SLE). The long-term prognosis of SLE patients is closely related to the cardiovascular events caused by SLE. Accordingly, it is necessary to assess early myocardial systolic function and synchrony.
Methods:
Overall, 90 patients with SLE were randomly selected from our outpatient and inpatient clinics and divided according to SLE Disease Activity Index (SLE-DAI-2000) scores: group A, stable (scores 0-4); group B, mildly active stage (scores 5-9); and group C, moderately active stage (scores ≥10). Each group included 30 patients. Further, 30 sex- and age-matched healthy individuals who were referred for check-ups at the same period were selected as controls (group D). The minimum age for entry into the group was 17 years old. Autostrain LV and three-dimensional quantitative analysis (3DQA) were applied to obtain left ventricular systolic function parameters, information on strain parameters, and correlations between parameters. Simultaneity parameters measured by Autostrain LV and 3DQA were tested for reproducibility.
Results:
A two-by-two comparison of groups A-C showed that as the disease activity score increased, AP4LS%, AP2LS%, AP3LS%, and the LV mean overall longitudinal strain all gradually decreased, while LV longitudinal strain peak time standard deviation (Tls-SD) gradually increased, with all differences being statistically significant (p < .05). In groups A-C compared with controls, Tmsv-17-SD, Tmsv-17-Dif, Tmsv-17-SD%, and Tmsv-17-Dif% were all significantly prolonged (p < .05). Further, Tls-SD was positively correlated with Tmsv-17-SD and Tmsv-17-Dif, and there was good agreement between Autostrain and 3DQA for the measurement of left ventricular synchrony indexes, with Tmsv-17-Dif having the best repeatability (intraobserver interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = .979; interobserver ICC = .848, p < .01).
Conclusion:
Autostrain LV can accurately detect changes in left ventricular myocardial strain in patients with SLE early in the disease, with simple operation. The 3DQA technique can quantitatively evaluate left ventricular systolic synchronization in patients with SLE, and Autostrain LV synchronization index measurements correlate significantly with 3DQA. Both methods are reproducible, but 3DQA is more sensitive to left ventricular synchronous motion changes.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:22Rheumatic Heart Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Studies
01:29Heart Failure II: Pathophysiology