Right ventricular function in children with asthma: tissue doppler and two-dimensional speckle-tracking...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Pediatric Pulmonology
• Echocardiography

Background:

• Childhood asthma can lead to cardiopulmonary interactions affecting right ventricular (RV) performance.
• Subclinical myocardial dysfunction may be detected by 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) beyond conventional measures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of childhood asthma on RV function using 2D-STE.
• To assess RV systolic and diastolic indices in asthmatic children compared to healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Prospective case-control study involving 70 children with asthma and 30 healthy controls (aged 6-18 years).
• Utilized standard transthoracic echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), and 2D-STE.
• Primary outcomes included RV global longitudinal strain (RV GLS) and strain rate; conventional RV systolic and diastolic indices were also evaluated.

Main Results:

• RV systolic mechanics were generally preserved in asthmatic children.
• No significant differences in RV GLS, RV strain rate, or TAPSE between groups.
• TDI revealed significantly lower tricuspid annular E' velocity and higher E/E' ratio in the asthma group, indicating diastolic dysfunction.
• Increased interventricular septal diastolic thickness was observed in children with asthma.

Conclusions:

• In clinically stable, mild-to-moderate pediatric asthma, RV systolic deformation assessed by 2D-STE is preserved.
• TDI-derived indices suggest early RV diastolic involvement in pediatric asthma.
• Focused assessment of RV diastolic function is crucial for identifying subclinical cardiopulmonary effects in asthmatic children.