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Transthoracic Speckle Tracking Echocardiography for the Quantitative Assessment of Left Ventricular Myocardial Deformation
Published on: October 20, 2016
Assessment of the relationship between asthma severity and cardiac functions using speckle tracking in pediatric
Seçil Doğa Tunç1, Gökçe Kaya DiNçEL2, Azize Pınar Metbulut3
1Department of Pediatrics, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye.
Insights
Childhood asthma impacts cardiac function, showing reduced systolic and diastolic performance in ventricles and right atrium. Advanced echocardiography (2D-STE) detects these early changes, particularly in moderate-severe cases.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Respiratory Medicine
Background:
- Long-term cardiac effects of childhood asthma are not well understood.
- Asthma severity may influence cardiac function over time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the relationship between asthma severity and cardiac function in pediatric patients.
- To identify early cardiac changes using advanced echocardiographic techniques.
Main Methods:
- 113 pediatric asthma patients (10-18 years) and 59 healthy controls were assessed.
- Cardiac function evaluated using electrocardiography, conventional echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), and 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE).
- Asthma patients were categorized into mild and moderate-severe groups.
Main Results:
- Asthma patients exhibited increased right ventricular area (RVA) and reduced interventricular septal (IVSS') and left ventricular S' velocities (LVS'), and right ventricular late diastolic velocity (RVA').
- 2D-STE revealed lower left ventricular global longitudinal/circumferential strain (LVGLS, LVGCS), right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RVGLS), and right atrial reservoir strain (RARS) in asthma patients.
- Higher strain rates (LVGLSR, LVGCSR, RVGLSR, RARSR) were observed in asthma patients, with more significant alterations in the moderate-severe group.
Conclusions:
- Childhood asthma is associated with impaired systolic and diastolic function in both ventricles and the right atrium.
- The severity of asthma correlates with the extent of cardiac dysfunction.
- 2D-STE is a valuable tool for detecting early cardiac alterations in pediatric asthma patients.
Objective:
The long-term effects of childhood asthma on cardiac functions remain unclear. This study evaluates the relationship between asthma severity and cardiac function in pediatric asthma patients.
Methods:
Children aged 10-18 years with at least five years of asthma follow-up and no known cardiac disease were included. A control group of healthy children with no chronic diseases participated. Both groups underwent electrocardiography, conventional echocardiography, tissue Doppler examination (TDI), and 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE).
Results:
A total of 113 asthma patients (59 mild, 54 moderate-severe) and 59 controls were assessed. Compared to controls, the asthma group had increased right ventricular area (RVA) (p = 0.04), while interventricular septal and left ventricular S' velocity (IVSS', LVS') and right ventricular late diastolic velocity (RVA') were lower (p = 0.04, p = 0.04, p = 0.02, respectively). Conventional and TDI parameters showed no other significant differences. In 2D-STE measurements, left ventricular global longitudinal and circumferential strain (LVGLS, LVGCS), right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RVGLS), and right atrial reservoir strain (RARS) were lower (p = 0.01, p = 0.03, p = 0.01, p = 0.01, respectively), while left ventricular global longitudinal and circumferential strain rate (LVGLSR, LVGCSR), right ventricular global longitudinal strain rate (RVGLSR), and right atrial reservoir strain rate (RARSR) were higher (p = 0.04, p = 0.04, p = 0.03, p = 0.04, respectively) in the asthma group, with more pronounced differences in the moderate-severe asthma group.
Conclusion:
Our study shows a decrease in both systolic and diastolic functions in both ventricles and right atrium in relation to the severity of childhood asthma, and 2D-STE can be useful in identifying early changes.
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