Longitudinal strain bull's eye plot patterns in patients with cardiomyopathy and concentric left ventricular hypertrophy

Blueberry-on-Top Phenomenon in Apical Variant Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

•“Inverse-amyloid” or “blueberry-on-top” strain pattern is a finding in AHCM. •The time to peak strain parametric map is the best depiction of this unique pattern. •This pattern provides a supportive diagnostic feature of apical variant HCM.

Tafamidis improves myocardial longitudinal strain in A97S transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis

Background

Transthyretin cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is a debilitating disease that has received much attention since the emergence of novel treatments. The Transthyretin Cardiomyopathy Clinical Trial showed that tafamidis, a transthyretin tetramer stabilizer, effectively reduced the declines in functional capacity and quality of life. However, Ala97Ser (A97S) hereditary ATTR-CM is underrepresented in major ATTR-CM tafamidis trials.

Objectives

We aim to investigate the change in global longitudinal strain (GLS) of A97S ATTR-CM patients after 12 months of tafamidis treatment.

Methods

We retrospectively analysed a prospective cohort of patients with A97S ATTR-CM who received tafamidis meglumine (61 mg/day) at the National Taiwan University Hospital. Echocardiography with speckle tracking strain analysis was performed at baseline and 12 months after treatment.

Results

In all, 20 patients were included in the cohort. The baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and interventricular septum (IVS) thickness were 59.20 ± 13.23% and 15.10 ± 3.43 mm, respectively. After 12 months of tafamidis treatment, the LVEF and IVS were 61.83 ± 15.60% (p = 0.244) and 14.59 ± 3.03 mm (p = 0.623), respectively. GLS significantly improved from -12.70 ± 3.31% to -13.72 ± 3.17% (p = 0.048), and longitudinal strain (LS) in apical and middle segments significantly improved from -16.05 ± 4.82% to -17.95 ± 3.48% (p = 0.039) and -11.89 ± 4.38% to -13.58 ± 3.12% (p = 0.039), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that patients with LVEF < 50% had a better treatment response and improvement in GLS. The patients with an IVS ⩾ 13 mm had an improvement in two-chamber LS from -10.92 ± 4.25% to -13.15 ± 3.87% (p = 0.042) and an improvement in apical left ventricular LS from -15.30 ± 5.35% to -17.82 ± 3.99% (p = 0.031).

Conclusion

Tafamidis significantly improved GLS, and particularly apical and middle LS in A97S ATTR-CM patients.

Right Ventricular Myocardial Involvement in Anderson-Fabry Disease at Diagnosis: Evaluation with Three-Dimensional Strain Imaging

Background: Right ventricular (RV) involvement in Anderson-Fabry disease (AFD) is well known in the advanced stages of the disease RV hypertrophies, but little is known about the early involvement. The aim of our study was to assess RV function in AFD patients at diagnosis. Methods: A total of 23 AFD patients and 15 controls comparable for age and sex were recruited. A complete 2D standard echo with 3D volumetric and strain analysis of RV was performed. Results: Two patient populations, comparable for clinical baseline characteristics were considered. RV free wall thickness was significantly increased in the AFD group. No significant differences in standard RV indices (TAPSE, transverse diameter, tissue Doppler velocities of the lateral tricuspid annulus) were found. A 3D volumetric analysis showed reduced RV ejection fraction and lower values of longitudinal septal, free wall and global longitudinal strain (GLS) in AFD patients. RV free wall thickness significantly correlated with both free wall RV LS and RV GLS. In multiple linear regression analysis, RV free wall thickness was independently associated with RV GLS even after correction for age and heart rate. Conclusions: In AFD patients, 3D echocardiography allows for the identification of early subclinical functional impairment of RV. RV dysfunction is independently associated with RV hypertrophy.

Strain estimation in aortic roots from 4D echocardiographic images using medial modeling and deformable registration

Even though the central role of mechanics in the cardiovascular system is widely recognized, estimating mechanical deformation and strains in-vivo remains an ongoing practical challenge. Herein, we present a semi-automated framework to estimate strains from four-dimensional (4D) echocardiographic images and apply it to the aortic roots of patients with normal trileaflet aortic valves (TAV) and congenital bicuspid aortic valves (BAV). The method is based on fully nonlinear shell-based kinematics, which divides the strains into in-plane (shear and dilatational) and out-of-plane components. The results indicate that, even for size-matched non-aneurysmal aortic roots, BAV patients experience larger regional shear strains in their aortic roots. This elevated strains might be a contributing factor to the higher risk of aneurysm development in BAV patients. The proposed framework is openly available and applicable to any tubular structures.

MyoPS: A benchmark of myocardial pathology segmentation combining three-sequence cardiac magnetic resonance images

Assessment of myocardial viability is essential in diagnosis and treatment management of patients suffering from myocardial infarction, and classification of pathology on the myocardium is the key to this assessment. This work defines a new task of medical image analysis, i.e., to perform myocardial pathology segmentation (MyoPS) combining three-sequence cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images, which was first proposed in the MyoPS challenge, in conjunction with MICCAI 2020. Note that MyoPS refers to both myocardial pathology segmentation and the challenge in this paper. The challenge provided 45 paired and pre-aligned CMR images, allowing algorithms to combine the complementary information from the three CMR sequences for pathology segmentation. In this article, we provide details of the challenge, survey the works from fifteen participants and interpret their methods according to five aspects, i.e., preprocessing, data augmentation, learning strategy, model architecture and post-processing. In addition, we analyze the results with respect to different factors, in order to examine the key obstacles and explore the potential of solutions, as well as to provide a benchmark for future research. The average Dice scores of submitted algorithms were 0.614±0.231 and 0.644±0.153 for myocardial scars and edema, respectively. We conclude that while promising results have been reported, the research is still in the early stage, and more in-depth exploration is needed before a successful application to the clinics. MyoPS data and evaluation tool continue to be publicly available upon registration via its homepage (www.sdspeople.fudan.edu.cn/zhuangxiahai/0/myops20/).

Values of new ultrasonic imaging methods for the diagnosis of apical Takotsubo syndrome

Background

Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a multifactorial disease contributed to by several pathological factors. It is characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction, and patients with TTS can spontaneously recover within days or weeks. This study's objective was to investigate the ultrasonic characteristics of TTS during different periods and assess the clinical application value of real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE) and speckle tracking imaging (STI) in TTS.

Methods

In this prospective cohort study, the patients with apical TTS were evaluated by echocardiography on admission (within 1-3 days) and after 4 and 8 weeks. RT-3DE was performed to observe the structure and function of the left ventricle (LV). LV end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), end-systolic volume (LVESV), stroke volume (LVSV), and ejection fraction (LVEF) were calculated. The longitudinal peak systolic strain (LPSS) of all LV myocardial segments was acquired by 2D STI. For comparison, 20 healthy individuals were included as normal controls.

Results

A total of 16 patients with TTS were included. Their LV was characterized as an "octopus pot" in morphology with obvious hypokinesis on admission. The LVEDV, LVESV, LVSV, and LVEF were 84.23±10.67, 55.94±8.51, 28.31±8.06 mL, and 33.59%±4.12%, respectively, in patients with TTS on admission with a significant difference from those of the controls (P=0.005, P<0.001, P<0.001, and P<0.001, respectively). A definite improvement was found upon follow-up, with these parameters even returning to normal morphology after 8 weeks. The LVEDV, LVESV, LVSV, and LVEF were 75.79±6.86, 28.05±4.33, 47.81±3.57 mL, and 63.02%±3.92%, respectively, in TTS patients after 8 weeks with no significant difference from those of the controls (P=0.907, P=0.235, P=0.162, and P=0.052, respectively). A significant decrease in LPSS was also found in patients with TTS on admission. In the eighth week of follow-up, the LPSS of the apical and middle segments in TTS patients remained significantly decreased compared with that of the normal controls (-18.54%±4.69% vs. -24.29%±3.46%, P<0.001; -19.38%±2.88% vs. -22.36%±3.23%, P<0.001), but that of the basal segments in TTS patients returned to normal and there was no significant differences from the normal controls (-20.75%±2.91% vs. -21.51%±2.85%; P=0.055).

Conclusions

RT-3DE and STI played an indispensable role in visually and quantitatively inspecting the abnormalities of patients with TTS, including in diagnosis and follow-up.

A deep learning-based fully automatic and clinical-ready framework for regional myocardial segmentation and myocardial ischemia evaluation

Myocardial ischemia diagnosis with CT perfusion imaging (CTP) is important in coronary artery disease management. Traditional analysis procedure is time-consuming and error-prone due to the semi-manual and operator-dependent nature. To improve the diagnostic performance, a deep learning-based, fully automatic, and clinical-ready framework was developed. Two collaborating deep learning networks including a 3D U-Net for left ventricle segmentation and a CNN for anatomical landmarks detection were trained on 276 subjects. With our processing framework, the 17-segment left ventricular model was automatically generated conformed to the clinical standard. Myocardial blood flow computed by commercial software was extracted within each segment and visualized against the bull's eye plot. The performance was validated on another 45 subjects. Coronary angiography and invasive fractional flow reserve measurements were also performed in these patients to serve as the gold standard for myocardial ischemia diagnosis. As a result, the diagnostic accuracy for our method was 81.08%, much higher than that for commercially available CTP analysis software (56.75%), and our method demonstrated a higher consistency (Kappa coefficient 0.759 vs. 0.585). Besides, the average processing time of our method was much lower (30 ± 10.5 s/subject vs. over 30 min/subject). In conclusion, the proposed deep learning-based framework could be a promising tool for assisting CTP analysis.

Association of resting left ventricular global longitudinal strain with myocardial perfusion abnormalities evaluated by 13 N-ammonia positron emission tomography in patients with stable angina pectoris and normal left ventricular ejection fraction

AIMS

Little is known about whether resting left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) impairment is associated with myocardial perfusion abnormalities evaluated using ¹³ N-ammonia positron emission tomography (¹³ N-NH₃ -PET)-myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). This study aimed to investigate the correlation between resting GLS and myocardial perfusion parameters in patients with a normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). We evaluated whether resting GLS can predict myocardial perfusion abnormalities in these patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We selected 157 patients with suspected stable angina pectoris who underwent both ATP-stress NH₃ -PET-MPI and 2-dimentional speckle tracing echocardiography. All subjects had a preserved LVEF and no known history of myocardial infarction. Patients were stratified into Group N (normal perfusion; summed stress score [SSS], 0-3; n = 101), Group M (mildly to moderately abnormal perfusion; SSS, 4-11; n = 41), or Group S (severely abnormal perfusion; SSS, 12+; n = 15). GLS was more impaired as myocardial perfusion abnormality severity increased (-17.9 ± 2.9% for Group N, -16.8 ± 3.1% for Group M, and -14.2 ± 3.5% for Group S; p < .001). GLS was weakly but significantly correlated with SSS (R = .32, p < .001), summed difference score (R = .32, p < .001), and myocardial blood flow during stress (R = -0.27, p < .001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that male sex, diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure, and GLS were independent predictors of myocardial perfusion abnormality defined as Groups M and S. Additionally, the area under the curve for GLS for detecting myocardial perfusion abnormality was .65, and the optimal cutoff value for GLS was -16.5%, with sensitivity and specificity of 59% and 66%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

In patients with suspected angina pectoris, resting GLS impairment despite a normal LVEF might aid the detection of hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease.

Phenotyping the hypertensive heart

Arterial hypertension remains the most frequent cardiovascular (CV) risk factor, and is responsible for a huge global burden of disease. Echocardiography is the first-line imaging method for the evaluation of cardiac damage in hypertensive patients and novel techniques, such as 2D and D speckle tracking and myocardial work, provide insight in subclinical left ventricular (LV) impairment that would not be possible to detect with conventional echocardiography. The structural, functional, and mechanical cardiac remodelling that are detected with imaging are intermediate stages in the genesis of CV events, and initiation or intensification of antihypertensive therapy in response to these findings may prevent or delay progressive remodelling and CV events. However, LV remodelling—especially LV hypertrophy—is not specific to hypertensive heart disease (HHD) and there are circumstances when other causes of hypertrophy such as athlete heart, aortic stenosis, or different cardiomyopathies need exclusion. Tissue characterization obtained by LV strain, cardiac magnetic resonance, or computed tomography might significantly help in the distinction of different LV phenotypes, as well as being sensitive to subclinical disease. Selective use of multimodality imaging may therefore improve the detection of HHD and guide treatment to avoid disease progression. The current review summarizes the advanced imaging tests that provide morphological and functional data about the hypertensive cardiac injury.

Echocardiographic Abnormalities in Adults With Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric disorder that may lead to cardiac complications. The objective of this study was to evaluate global and regional longitudinal strain changes in patients affected by AN as an early marker of myocardial damage. We prospectively enrolled 48 consecutive patients with AN and 44 age-matched and gender-matched healthy controls. In all subjects, we performed echocardiography, including global longitudinal strain (GLS) measurement. A subset of 33 patients with AN had further echocardiographic examinations during the follow-up. Compared with healthy controls, patients with AN had a greater prevalence of pericardial effusion (9 of 48 vs 0 of 44, p = 0.003), a smaller left ventricular mass (63 ± 15 vs 99 ± 30 g, p < 0.001), a lower absolute value of GLS (-18.9 ± 2.8 vs -20.2 ± 1.8%, p = 0.010) and of basal LS (-15.4 ± 6.0 vs -19.4 ± 2.6%, p < 0.001). The bull's eye mapping showed a plot pattern with blue basal areas in 18 of 48 patients with AN versus 1 of 44 controls (p < 0.001). During the follow-up, of 13 patients with blue areas in the first bull's eye mapping, 11 recovered completely, and of 20 patients with a red bull's eye at the first examination, none presented blue areas at the second one. In conclusion, GLS is significantly altered in patients with AN, and a basal blue pattern on bull's eye mapping identifies more severe cases. These changes seem to be reversible.

Myocardial Injury in Multiple Myeloma Patients With Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction: Noninvasive Left Ventricular Pressure-Strain Myocardial Work

Introduction

Over one-half of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) die of heart failure or arrhythmia. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is used to describe left ventricular systolic function. However, depressed LVEF means advanced stage of left ventricular dysfunction in patients with MM. Left ventricular pressure-strain-derived myocardial work (LVMW) is a novel and noninvasive method for evaluating LV function related to LV dynamic pressure load. MW is assessed by LV MW index (LVMWI), constructive work, wasted work, and LV MW efficiency (LVMWE). In this study, we aimed to investigate the value of LVMW in cardiac function assessment and clinical prognosis of MM patients with preserved LVEF.

Methods

A total of 72 subjects, including 40 untreated MM patients with preserved EF (including the thick wall and normal wall groups) and 32 non-MM patients, were enrolled in this study. Laboratory data and clinical history of all the patients were collected. All the patients underwent comprehensive echocardiographic examinations and then LVMWI and LVMWE were calculated. Moreover, cardiac adverse events (CAEs) were observed in MM patients treated with bortezomib-based therapy after 6 months and the prognostic value of MW was assessed.

Results

(1) LV myocardial global work index (GWI), myocardial global work efficiency (GWE), and global longitudinal strain (GLS) were lower in the thick wall group of patients with MM compared with the normal wall group and controls. Cardiac segmental analysis of LVMWI in patients with MM showed an apical sparing pattern; (2) The area under the curve (AUC) of GWE for judging the disease severity based on the Revised International Staging System (R-ISS) was 0.835 (95% CI: 0.684–0.933, p < 0.05); (3) GWE, Lg_dFLC, and arrhythmia were independent risk factors of CAEs. The AUC of GWE for predicting CAEs in MM patients treated with bortezomib-based therapy for 6 months follow-up was 0.896 (95% CI: 0.758–0.970, p < 0.05).

Conclusion

MM Patients with preserved EF had subclinical LV systolic dysfunction, which was worse in the thick wall group. LVMWI was presented as “apical sparing” in patients with MM. A lower LVGWE may have a predictive value for CAEs in patients with MM after 6 months of follow-up.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in the Elderly: A Case Identified With Genetic Screening

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a hereditary disease with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance, that is caused by a mutation in one of several sarcomere genes that encodes components of the contractile system of the heart. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy has been described as a disease that is more heavily diagnosed in the second decade of life, that may present with abnormal syncopal episodes or sudden cardiac death. However, with a better understanding of the genetic changes that occur in HCM and with improved imaging techniques, there has now been an increased recognition of a late-onset disease that can occur in the elderly population. We report a case of a 73-year-old woman who was found to have HCM after various clinical events took place.

Global and Regional Variations in Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Comparison of Longitudinal Strain and 99mTechnetium Pyrophosphate Imaging

Background: There is limited data on the head-to-head comparison of ^99mTc-pyrophosphate (PYP) and echocardiographic strain imaging in the assessment of transthyretin (TTR) cardiac amyloidosis. Methods: At Mayo Clinic Arizona, patients that had undergone both a ^99mTc-PYP scan and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) within a 90-day period were retrospectively identified for chart review and strain imaging analysis. Patients were divided into two groups according to their ^99mTc-PYP results (PYP+ and PYP -) for the comparison. A standard 17-segment model was used for segmental, regional and global longitudinal strain comparison. A p-value of <0.05 was deemed as significant. Results: A total of 64 patients were included, the mean age was 75.1 ± 13.0 years and 57(89.1%) were male. Comparing the PYP+ to the PYP- group, the left ventricular global longitudinal strain was significantly worse (PYP+ vs. PYP-: -10.5 ± 2.6 vs. -13.1 ± 4.1, P = 0.003). PYP+ patients also had worse regional basal strain (-4.6 ± 2.6 vs. -8.8±4.0, p<0.001) and a trend of worse mid-ventricular strain (-9.6 ± 4.0 vs. -11.7± 4.4, P = 0.07), however, no statistical difference in apical region (-17.6 ± 4.73 vs. -19.0 ± 6.46, P = 0.35). This is consistent with an apical sparing pattern shown by the relative apical longitudinal strain index (1.3 ±0.5 vs. 1.0 ± 0.3, P = 0.008). Segment to segment analysis demonstrated significant difference in strain between PYP+ and PYP- segments in 4 segments: basal inferior (P = 0.006), basal anterolateral (P = 0.01), apical septal (P = 0.002) and apical inferior (P = 0.001). Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was significantly different with 17 (77.3%) patients in group PYP+ versus 15 (36.6%) in PYP- participants (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Our study suggested that PYP uptake is related to overall worse LV segmental, regional and global longitudinal strain function, as well as diastolic function compared to patients without PYP uptake. This provides important data for clinicians to know the echocardiographic function features related to ^99mTc-PYP uptake and can serve as a hypothesis-generating study for future investigators.

Myocardial Strain and Association With Clinical Outcomes in Danon Disease: A Model for Monitoring Progression of Genetic Cardiomyopathies

Background

Myocardial strain can identify subclinical left ventricular dysfunction in various cardiac diseases, but its association with clinical outcomes in genetic cardiomyopathies remains unknown. Herein, we assessed myocardial strain in patients with Danon disease (DD), a rare X‐linked autophagic disorder that causes severe cardiac manifestations.

Methods and Results

Echocardiographic images were reviewed and used to calculate myocardial strain from a retrospective, international registry of patients with DD. Regression analyses were performed to evaluate for an association of global longitudinal strain (GLS) and ejection fraction with the composite outcome (death, ventricular assist device, heart transplantation, and implantable cardioverter defibrillator for secondary prevention). A total of 22 patients with DD (male 14 [63.6%], median age 16.5 years) had sufficient echocardiograms for analysis. Absolute GLS was reduced with a mean of 12.2% with an apical‐sparing pattern observed. Univariable regression for GLS and composite outcome showed an odds ratio of 1.32 (95% CI, 1.02–1.71) with P=0.03. For receiver operating characteristic analysis, the areas under the curve for GLS and ejection fraction were 0.810 (P=0.02) and 0.605 (P=0.44), respectively. An absolute GLS cutoff of 10.0% yielded a true positive rate of 85.7% and false positive rate of 13.3%.

Conclusions

In this cohort of patients with DD, GLS may be a useful assessment of myocardial function and may predict clinical outcomes. This study highlights the potential use of myocardial strain phenotyping to monitor disease progression and potentially to predict clinical outcomes in DD and other genetic cardiomyopathies.

Diagnosis and Management of Cardiovascular Involvement in Friedreich Ataxia

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder caused by a homozygous GAA triplet repeat expansion in the frataxin gene. Cardiac involvement, usually manifesting as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, can range from asymptomatic cases to severe cardiomyopathy with progressive deterioration of the left ventricular ejection fraction and chronic heart failure. The management of cardiac involvement is directed to prevent disease progression and cardiovascular complications. However, direct-disease therapies are not currently available for FRDA. The present review aims to describe the current state of knowledge regarding cardiovascular involvement of FRDA, focusing on clinical-instrumental features and management of cardiac manifestation.

Use of Longitudinal Strain Bull’s-Eye Plot by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography for Evaluation of Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia with Myocardial Ischemia

Background: In recent years, two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) has been increasingly used to detect left ventricular myocardial ischemia with high accuracy for a reliable and comprehensive assessment of myocardial function by myocardial strain analysis. The present study aimed to assess whether the longitudinal strain (LS) bull’s eye plot could accurately detect left ventricular myocardial ischemia in homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) patients. Methods: A total of 28 HoHF patients, who underwent 2D-STE and myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), were classified into two groups as diagnosed by MPI for myocardial ischemia. The myocardial ischemia score by MPI, LS bull’s-eye plot, and strain parameters were analyzed and compared. Results: Among the 28 HoFH patients, MPI detected 30.77% and 2D-STE showed 30.19% ischemic segments in 13 and 15 HoFH patients with myocardial ischemia, respectively. All segmental LSs in the left anterior descending artery (LAD) perfusion territory were significantly decreased in patients with myocardial ischemia. The diagnostic capability of 2D-STE for myocardial ischemia was 85.29%, 95.34%, and 93.91% for sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, respectively. Conclusion: Left ventricular LS bull’s-eye plot can assist rapid and accurate evaluation of myocardial ischemia in HoFH patients. The myocardial ischemia is mainly distributed in the LAD perfusion territory in these patients.

Cardiac Imaging in Anderson-Fabry Disease: Past, Present and Future

Anderson-Fabrydisease is an X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme α-galactosidase A. This results in pathological accumulation of glycosphingolipids in several tissues and multi-organ progressive dysfunction. The typical clinical phenotype of Anderson-Fabry cardiomyopathy is progressive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy associated with rhythm and conduction disturbances. Cardiac imaging plays a key role in the evaluation and management of Anderson-Fabry disease patients. The present review highlights the value and perspectives of standard and advanced cardiovascular imaging in Anderson-Fabry disease.

Subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction detected in obstructive sleep apnea with automated function imaging and its association with nocturnal hypoxia

BACKGROUND

Early detection of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction is crucial in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) due to its close relationship with cardiovascular diseases. Global longitudinal strain (GLS) derived from automated function imaging (AFI) can precisely assess global longitudinal function. The aim of this study was to determine if LV GLS was reduced in patients with OSA and a normal LV ejection fraction (LVEF) and to assess any associated determinants.

METHODS

Polysomnography (PSG) and echocardiography were done in consecutive patients with suspected OSA and normal LVEF in this prospective study. Patients were divided into two groups according to apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) (Group 1, normal or mild OSA: AHI < 15/h; Group 2, moderate-to-severe OSA: AHI ≥ 15/h). Clinical, PSG, and echocardiographic parameters were compared between the two groups and the associated factors were investigated.

RESULTS

Of 425 consecutive patients, 244 were analyzed after exclusions. Patients in Group 2 had significantly worse GLS than those in Group 1 (p < 0.001). The prevalence of GLS reduction (defined as < - 19.7%) was 25% and 76%, respectively (χ² = 34.19, p < 0.001). Nocturnal lowest pulse oxygen saturation (SpO₂), AHI, body mass index (BMI), and gender were associated with GLS reduction (all p < 0.05). Further multivariate analysis showed that the lowest SpO₂ (OR: 2.15), gender (OR: 2.45), and BMI (OR: 2.66) remained independent (all p < 0.05), and the lowest SpO₂ was the most powerful determinant (χ² = 33.0, p < 0.001) in forward regression analysis. The intra- and inter-operator variability for AFI and coefficient of repeatability was low even in those with relatively poor images.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with normal LVEF, more severe OSA was associated with a worse GLS. The major determinants were lowest nocturnal SpO₂, gender, and obesity, but not AHI. GLS can be rapidly and reliably assessed using AFI.

Evaluating physiology of a human heart during ventricular tachycardia: new insights of mechanical alterations via beat to beat strain analysis-case report

Background

Ventricular tachycardia can be triggered by myocardial ischaemia. These often fatal events are nearly always accompanied by a significant circulatory depression. However, the exact mechanical alterations and mechanisms of adaption during such arrhythmia episodes are still unknown.

Case summary

We report on a 71-year-old male patient with a distinct cardiovascular risk profile, recurrent incidences of dizziness and palpitations. A Holter electrocardiogram was performed showing multiple episodes of ventricular tachycardia. He was immediately transferred to our hospital for further monitoring and diagnostics. During echocardiography, one of these episodes could be recorded with a four-dimensional (4D) probe in triplane acquisition mode and strain analysis was done. Afterwards, a heart catheter examination was performed. A one-vessel coronary heart disease was diagnosed and treated with three drug-eluting stents. The burden of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (nsVT) significantly reduced post-procedure. During the follow-up, new episodes of nsVT occurred after 6 weeks, which were treated by electrophysiological examinations.

Discussion

Modern 4D echocardiography machines offer the possibility to visualize the entire heart simultaneously. Thus ventricular arrhythmias can be evaluated using off-line strain analysis. This technology allows new real-time insights into the human heart showing compensatory mechanisms to overcome stressful episodes, such as ventricular tachycardia.

Semiquantitative assessment of the relative apical sparing pattern of longitudinal strain for cardiac amyloidosis identification

BACKGROUNDS

The relative apical sparing pattern (RASP) of left ventricular (LV) longitudinal strain (LS) is frequently associated with cardiac amyloidosis (CA). However, the visual assessment of RASP is inconsistent, and the quantitative assessment of RASP is time-consuming. This study aimed to compare assessments of RASP for the identification of CA with conventional assessments and investigate their reproducibility and relevance on the assessments.

METHODS

Forty patients with biopsy-proven CA were compared with 80 hypertrophied patients matched for mean LV wall thickness. We compared the discriminative abilities of three assessments of RASP to identify CA (visual, quantitative, and semiquantitative). Nine patterns of semiquantitative RASP were investigated; finally, it was defined as "reduction of LS" (≥ -10%) in ≥5 (of 6) basal segments, relative to "preserved LS" (< -15%) in at least one apical segment.

RESULTS

The concordance between the two observers for visual RASP was modest (κ = 0.65). On the other hand, the consistency for semiquantitative RASP was perfect (κ = 1.00). The discriminative ability of semiquantitative RASP (area under the curve [AUC]  = 0.74) was significantly better than that of visual RASP (AUC = 0.65) and equivalent to that of binary quantitative RASP.

CONCLUSION

Semiquantitative RASP assessment is reproducible and accurately discriminates CA. This simple assessment may help readily refine the risk stratification of patients with diffuse LV hypertrophy.

Reversible cardiac dysfunction in severe COVID-19 infection, mechanisms and case report

A previously healthy 49-year-old male patient presented with COVID-19 infection and required mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation due to severe hypoxemia. Echocardiography showed cardiac dysfunction with an apical sparing strain pattern, which rapidly normalized within a week. Apical sparing myocardial strain in patients with COVID-19 infection may suggest reverse-type stress cardiomyopathy.

Variability in the Assessment of Myocardial Strain Patterns: Implications for Adequate Interpretation

Variability in global and regional peak strain has been thoroughly studied, but variability in spatiotemporal myocardial strain patterns has not been studied as well. This study reports on such variability and its implications for adequate disease interpretation. Forty in-training operators, distributed on 20 workstations, analyzed six cases with representative deformation patterns with commercial speckle tracking. Inter-operator differences were quantified through the variability in myocardial delineations, spatiotemporal longitudinal strain patterns and peak longitudinal strain. Intra-operator differences were assessed similarly using 10 repeated measurements from a single clinician expert. Delineations varied mainly along the lateral wall and at the valve level. Peak longitudinal strain variability was low to moderate. The spatiotemporal strain patterns were consistent despite high variability at the apex and near the valve. The results indicate that relevant pattern assessment is possible despite heterogeneous experience with speckle tracking and that careful interpretation of pattern abnormalities should be recommended before a more systematic quantitative analysis.

Cardiac amyloidosis: An underdiagnosed/underappreciated disease

Cardiac amyloidosis or amyloid cardiomyopathy (ACM), commonly resulting from extracellular deposition of amyloid fibrils consisted of misfolded immunoglobulin light chain (AL) or transthyretin (TTR) protein, is an underestimated cause of heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias. Among the three types of cardiac amyloidosis (wild-type or familial TTR and light-chain), the wild-type (Wt) TTR-related amyloidosis (ATTR) is an increasingly recognized cause of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and amyloidosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of this heart failure group of patients. Recent advances in the diagnosis and drug treatment of ACM have ushered in a new era in early disease detection and better management of these patients. Certain clues in cardiac and extracardiac manifestations of ACM may heighten clinical suspicion and guide further confirmatory testing. Newer noninvasive imaging methods (strain echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance and bone scintigraphy) may obviate the need for endomyocardial biopsy in ATTR patients, while newer targeted therapies may alter the adverse prognosis in these patients. Early recognition of ACM is crucial in halting the disease process before irreversible organ damage occurs. Chemotherapy and stem-cell transplantation combined with immunomodulatory therapy may also favorably affect the course and prognosis of light chain ACM. Finally, in select patients with end-stage disease, heart transplantation may render results comparable to non-ACM patients. All these issues are herein reviewed.

Systemic ATTR-amyloidosis, a Rare Form of Internal Organ Damage

The article presents the case report of a rare hereditary form of systemic ATTR-amyloidosis in Russian patient with a discussion of approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of this form, also based on the own experience in the management of such patients. Modern ideas about the pathogenesis of the disease as well as detailed information about the clinical manifestations of amyloid cardiopathy and of other organs are presented. The nature of structural and hemodynamic changes in the heart is discussed on the basis of experience, including own, ultrasound examination of the heart in patients with amyloidosis, especially the article focuses the reader's attention on the true infiltrative nature of transtiretin amyloid cardiopathy in contrast to AL-amyloidosis, in which there is a significant inflammatory component that determines a more unfavorable natural course of AL-amyloidosis of the heart. The article discusses the differential diagnosis of different types of amyloidosis, the diagnostic difficulties associated with weak congophilia of transtiretin amyloidosis and at the same time substantiates the need for morphological verification of the diagnosis. Modern methods of treatment of ATTR-amyloidosis are discussed.

Imaging-Specific Cardiomyopathies: A Practical Guide

Heart failure is a clinical syndrome with a broad spectrum of presentations. Cardiovascular imaging techniques such as echocardiography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance, computed tomography, and nuclear imaging play a crucial role in diagnosis, guiding management, and providing prognostic information. Each of these imaging modalities has their own respective strengths and weaknesses. Cardiac imaging can help differentiate between ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathies. Additionally, imaging techniques can display disease-specific findings, aiding in diagnosis of nonischemic cardiomyopathies and can provide a means to monitor response to therapy. The choice of imaging modality in the workup of cardiomyopathy should be based on the specific clinical question and the knowledge of the strengths and limitations of each imaging modality.

Innovative imaging methods in heart failure: a shifting paradigm in cardiac assessment. Position statement on behalf of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology

Myriad advances in all fields of cardiac imaging have stimulated and reflected new understanding of cardiac performance, myocardial damage and the mechanisms of heart failure. In this paper, the Heart Failure Association assesses the potential usefulness of innovative imaging modalities in enabling more precise diagnostic and prognostic evaluation, as well as in guiding treatment strategies. Many new methods have gradually penetrated clinical practice and are on their way to becoming a part of routine evaluation. This paper focuses on myocardial deformation and three-dimensional ultrasound imaging; stress tests for the evaluation of contractile and filling function; the progress of magnetic resonance techniques; molecular imaging and other sound innovations. The Heart Failure Association aims to highlight the ways in which paradigms have shifted in several areas of cardiac assessment. These include reassessing of the simplified concept of ejection fraction and implementation of the new parameters of cardiac performance applicable to all heart failure phenotypes; switching from two-dimensional to more accurate and reproducible three-dimensional ultrasound volumetric evaluation; greater tissue characterization via recently developed magnetic resonance modalities; moving from assessing cardiac function and congestion at rest to assessing it during stress; from invasive to novel non-invasive hybrid techniques depicting coronary anatomy and myocardial perfusion; as well as from morphometry to the imaging of pathophysiologic processes such as inflammation and apoptosis. This position paper examines the specific benefits of imaging innovations for practitioners dealing with heart failure aetiology, risk stratification and monitoring, and, in addition, for scientists involved in the development of future research.

Coronary arterial vasculature in the pathophysiology of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Alterations in the coronary vascular system are likely associated with a mismatch between energy demand and energy supply and critical in triggering the cascade of events that leads to symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Targeting the early events, particularly vascular remodeling, may be a key approach to developing effective treatments. Improvement in our understanding of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy began with the results of early biophysical studies, proceeded to genetic analyses pinpointing the mutational origin, and now pertains to imaging of the metabolic and flow-related consequences of such mutations. Microvascular dysfunction has been an ongoing hot topic in the imaging of genetic cardiomyopathies marked by its histologically significant remodeling and has proven to be a powerful asset in determining prognosis for these patients as well as enlightening scientists on a potential pathophysiological cascade that may begin early during the developmental process. Here, we discuss questions that continue to remain on the mechanistic processes leading to microvascular dysfunction, its correlation to the morphological changes in the vessels, and its contribution to disease progression.

Feature tracking CMR reveals abnormal strain in preclinical arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/ cardiomyopathy: a multisoftware feasibility and clinical implementation study

BACKGROUND

Regional right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is the hallmark of Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia/Cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C), but is currently only qualitatively evaluated in the clinical setting. Feature Tracking Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (FT-CMR) is a novel quantitative method that uses cine CMR to calculate strain values. However, most prior FT-CMR studies in ARVD/C have focused on global RV strain using different software methods, complicating implementation of FT-CMR in clinical practice. We aimed to assess the clinical value of global and regional strain using FT-CMR in ARVD/C and to determine differences between commercially available FT-CMR software packages.

METHODS

We analyzed cine CMR images of 110 subjects (39 overt ARVD/C [mutation+/phenotype+], 40 preclinical ARVD/C [mutation+/phenotype-] and 31 control) for global and regional (subtricuspid, anterior, apical) RV strain in the horizontal longitudinal axis using four FT-CMR software methods (Multimodality Tissue Tracking, TomTec, Medis and Circle Cardiovascular Imaging). Intersoftware agreement was assessed using Bland Altman plots.

RESULTS

For global strain, all methods showed reduced strain in overt ARVD/C patients compared to control subjects (p < 0.041), whereas none distinguished preclinical from control subjects (p > 0.275). For regional strain, overt ARVD/C patients showed reduced strain compared to control subjects in all segments which reached statistical significance in the subtricuspid region for all software methods (p < 0.037), in the anterior wall for two methods (p < 0.005) and in the apex for one method (p = 0.012). Preclinical subjects showed abnormal subtricuspid strain compared to control subjects using one of the software methods (p = 0.009). Agreement between software methods for absolute strain values was low (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient = 0.373).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite large intersoftware variability of FT-CMR derived strain values, all four software methods distinguished overt ARVD/C patients from control subjects by both global and subtricuspid strain values. In the subtricuspid region, one software package distinguished preclinical from control subjects, suggesting the potential to identify early ARVD/C prior to overt disease expression.

Left-ventricular mechanics in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. CMR study

OBJECTIVES

To assess the magnitude of myocardial displacement abnormalities and their alterations with the fibrosis, left-ventricular (LV) outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) and hypertrophy in juveniles with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

STUDY DESIGN

Fifty-five children [age 12,5±4.6years, 38 (69,1%) males, 19 (34,5%) with LVOTO] with HCM and 20 controls underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance. The LV feature tracking (FT) derived strain and strain rates were quantified. Results of FT analysis were compared between HCM subjects and controls and between children with and without LVOTO.

RESULTS

Children with HCM exhibited decreased strain in both hypertrophied and nonhypertrophied segments versus controls. LV global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) rate (-0.69±0.04 vs -0.91±0.05, p=0,04), LV circumferential strain (LVCR) rate (-0.98±0.09 vs -1.27±0.06, p=0,02), LV radial strain (LVR) (18,5±1.9 vs 27,4±1.4, p<0,01) and LVR rate (0,98±0.1 vs 1,53±0.08, p<0,01) were substantially compromised in subjects with LVOTO vs without. In multivariable regression all LV myocardial dynamics markers, except for LVCR, exhibited a significant association with the degree of LVOTO. LVCR rate (β=0,31, p=0,02) and LVR (β=-0.24, p=0,04) were related to LV mass and only LVCR rate (β=0,15, p=0,03) was associated with the amount of LV fibrosis.

CONCLUSIONS

The reduction of all indices of LV myocardial mechanics in juvenile HCM patients was global but particularly pronounced in hypertrophied segments of the LV. The majority of the LV strains and strain rates were substantially compromised in subjects with LVOTO compared to patients without the obstruction. Myocardial mechanics indices seemed to be related to the degree of LVOTO rather than either to mass or the amount of fibrosis.

The Imaging Diagnosis of Less Advanced Cases of Cardiac Amyloidosis: The Relative Apical Sparing Pattern

An early diagnosis is important for improving the prognosis of cardiac amyloidosis (CA). We herein describe the utility of two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2-D STE) in diagnosing CA at a less advanced stage. A 63-year-old woman with exertional dyspnea was suspected of having CA based on her echocardiographic and electrocardiographic findings. A myocardial biopsy was negative for amyloid deposits, while the relative apical sparing pattern was detected on 2-D STE, which was highly suggestive of CA. Chemotherapy was initiated as a treatment for CA, and the patient's symptoms were immediately relieved. Thereafter, amyloid deposits were detected in a skin biopsy specimen.