Evaluation of right ventricular functions in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy by speckle-tracking echocardiography

BackgroundIt is widely recognized that the right ventricle plays a significant role in the prognosis of numerous diseases. However, the assessment of right ventricular function (RV) has not been given much attention until recently. This study used speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) to assess RV functions in ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) patients.ResultsThis study included 74 patients diagnosed with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and an ejection fraction (EF) of less than 50%. Although all the selected patients had normal RV systolic function by tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), a considerable percentage of them had subtle RV systolic dysfunction, which could be identified by right ventricular free wall longitudinal strain (RV FWLS) (36.5%) and right ventricular global longitudinal strain (RV GLS) (55.4%). Moreover, the mean RV FWLS was significantly higher than RV GLS (- 20.4 +/- 5.08% vs. - 17.5 +/- 6.89%), respectively. Advanced left ventricle (LV) adverse remodeling was associated with subtle RV dysfunction. Using multivariate regression analysis, increased E/e' (p = 0.016, CI 1.135-3.423) and RV myocardial performance index (MPI) (p = 0.007, CI 0.000-0.007) were identified as independent factors of impaired RV FWLS with the greatest effectiveness.ConclusionWhen standard RV measures are normal in patients with ICM, RV systolic strain analysis offers an incremental utility to detect subtle abnormalities in RV function, especially in resource-constrained settings where cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is not practical.