Improvement of left ventricular function assessment by global longitudinal strain after successful percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion

The benefit of revascularization of chronic total occlusion (CTO) in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is controversial. On the other hand, left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) is a more sensitive marker of LV myocardial ischemia and LV function than LV ejection fraction (EF). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of revascularization of CTO on LV function using LV GLS. A total of 70 consecutive patients (65.1 +/- 8.9 years, 59 males, LVEF 51.0 +/- 12.0%) with CTO who had a positive functional ischemia and underwent PCI, were included in this study. Echocardiography was performed before and 9 months after the procedure with conventional assessment including LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volume (LVEDV, LVESV), LVEF, and with 2DSTE analysis of GLS. Successful PCI was obtained in 60 patients (86%). There were no stent thromboses during follow-up. GLS showed a significant improvement 9 months after successful PCI (pre-PCI -12.4 +/- 4.1% vs. post-PCI -14.5 +/- 4.1%, P<0.01), whereas in failed PCI group that did not change significantly (pre-PCI -13.2 +/- 4.2% vs. post-PCI -14.0 +/- 4.7%, P = 0.64). LVEF, LVEDV and LVESV did not change significantly during follow-up in both successful and failed groups. Successful PCI for CTO improved LV function, assessed by LV GLS.