Evaluation of left ventricular functions by speckle tracking
echocardiography in coarctation patients
Abstract
Abstract Background/aim: Two-dimensional speckle-tracking
echocardiography (2D-STE) is a novel method that allows the assessment
of regional myocardial function. The aim of our study was to use 2D-STE
to assess left ventricular deformation in patients with coarctation of
the aorta (CoA). Methods: In this prospective study, patients with CoA
(n = 42) and healthy controls (n = 39) were recruited. Children with CoA
who visited the outpatient clinic between 2013 and 2014 were included.
The data were compared with those obtained from the sex- and age-matched
controls. Results: The mean age of the patients was 5.8 ± 4.5 years.
Global longitidinal strain based on all three apical views and total
global strain values did not appear to be different between the patient
and the control group (p = 0.59, p = 0.51, p = 0.15, p = 0.38).
Hypertension was detected in 14 (33.3%) patients with CoA. There were
significant differences between the global longitudinal strain values of
the normotensive CoA subgroup and the hypertensive CoA subgroup (p
< .05). Conclusions: In our study, we found that 2D-STE total
strain analysis of patients with CoA was not different from comparative
healthy controls. However, we determined that 2D-STE parameters were
lower in the hypertensive CoA subgroup compared to the normotensive CoA
subgroup.