ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS OF CARDIAC STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION IN THE
DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE MYOCARDITIS IN ADULT PATIENTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
AND META-ANALYSIS
Abstract
Background: Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) plays a key
role in the initial work-up of myocarditis where the identification of
pathologic structural and functional changes may assist in its diagnosis
and management. The aim of this systematic review was to appraise the
evidence for the utility of echocardiographic parameters of cardiac
structure and function in the diagnosis of acute myocarditis in the
adult population. Methods: A systematic literature search of
medical databases was performed using PRISMA principles to identify all
relevant studies assessing TTE parameters in adult patients with
myocarditis (1995-2020; English only; PROSPERO registration
CRD42021243598). Data for a range of structural and functional TTE
parameters were individually extracted and those with low heterogeneity
were then meta-analysed using a random-effects model for overall effect
size, and assessed through standardized mean difference (SMD).
Results: Available data from up to six included studies
revealed that myocarditis can be reliably differentiated from healthy
controls using echocardiographic measures of left ventricular (LV) size
and systolic function, in particular LV end-diastolic diameter, LV
ejection fraction (LVEF) and LV global longitudinal strain (LV-GLS)
(p≤0.01 for all). LV-GLS demonstrated the highest overall effect size,
followed by LVEF and LVEDD (SMD: |0.46-1.98|). Two
studies also demonstrated that impairment in LV-GLS was associated with
adverse cardiovascular outcomes in this population, irrespective of
LVEF. Conclusions: LV-GLS demonstrated the greatest overall
effect size and therefore ability to differentiate myocarditis
populations from healthy controls. GLS was also shown to be a predictor
of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, in this population.