[Value of 3-dimensional speckle tracking imaging to quantify regional left ventricular function in patients with coronary artery disease].

OBJECTIVE: To assess left ventricular (LV) strain by 3-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (3D-STI) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: All subjects underwent invasive coronary angiography.2-dimensional and 3-dimensional echocardiography were performed in 52 subjects with suspected CHD. Longitudinal strain (LS) , circumferential strain (CS) , radial strain (RS) and area strain (AS) in 17 LV segments were acquired by 3D-STI respectively. RESULTS: According to coronary angiography results, 35 (76.1%)subjects were diagnosed as CHD, and 138 coronary branches were divided into the control group(25 branches, 18.1%), the mild stenosis group (31 branches, 22.5%), the moderate stenosis group (43 branches, 31.2%) and the severe stenosis group (39 branches, 28.2%).3D-STI was performed with reliable tracking quality in 46(88.5%) out of the 52 subjects initially enrolled in this study. 3D-STI showed:(1)LS was similar between mild stenosis group and the control group (P > 0.05) and significantly reduced in the moderate stenosis group compared with the control group(P 0.05) . RS in some segments (BAS,MA and BI) was significantly decreased in the moderate stenosis group compared with the control group(P 0.05) and was significantly reduced in some segments (BAS,AS,BIL and BI) of the moderate stenosis group compared with the control group(P < 0.05). CS was significantly decreased in the severe stenosis group compared with the control group, the mild stenosis group and the moderate stenosis(P < 0.05). (4) AS was significantly decreased in the mild stenosis group compared with the control group(P < 0.05, except for BIL,MAL and BIS) and in all segments of the moderate stenosis group compared with the control group and the mild stenosis group(P < 0.05). AS was significantly decreased in the severe stenosis group compared with the control group, the mild stenosis group and the moderate stenosis(P < 0.05). The progressive decrease in AS was observed from the control group to the mild stenosis group, the moderate stenosis group and the severe stenosis group (P < 0.05). In addition, AS was negatively correlated with coronary artery Gensini score (r = -0.71, P < 0.01) . CONCLUSION: LV strain can be reliably quantified by 3D-STI. AS is a more sensitive parameter to detect coronary artery disease at early phase.