Quantitative Assessment of Alterations of Reginal Contractility of the Left Ventricle in Patients With Ischemic Heart Disease

Background. An important aspect of ischemic heart disease (IHD) diagnosis is the assessment of alterations of regional contractility (ARC) of the left ventricle. Speckle tracking imaging is a relatively new diagnostic method used for this purpose. Aim of this study was to identify optimal parameters of left ventricular (LV) deformation by speckle-tracking echocardiography which can differentiate quantitatively degrees of ARC of all left ventricular segments in patients with acute and chronic forms of IHD. Materials and methods. We compared parameters of LV longitudinal, radial, and circular deformation in 216 patients with IHD in dependence on the presence of ARC. Results. The most sensitive and specific indicator of ARC of LV anterior septal wall was found to be the value of longitudinal systolic deformation of the middle and apical segments (diagnostic thresholds -13.5% and 14.7%, respectively). Such indicator for LV inferior wall was value of circular systolic strain (diagnostic threshold for the basal segment -12.9%, for the middle segment -10.7%).