Segment-orientated analysis of two-dimensional strain and strain rate as assessed by velocity vector imaging in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Abstract

Aims: Strain rate imaging techniques have been proposed for the detection of ischemic or viable myocardium in coronary artery disease, which is still a challenge in clinical cardiology. This retrospective comparative study analyzed regional left ventricular function and scaring with two-dimensional strain (2DS) in the first 4 to 10 days after acute anterior myocardial infarction (AMI).Methods and results: The study population consisted of 32 AMI patients with an LAD occlusion and successful reperfusion. The assessment of peak systolic 2DS and peak systolic strain rate (SR) was performed segment-oriented with the angle-independent speckle tracking algorithm Velocity Vector Imaging (VVI). The infarcted, adjacent and non-infarcted segments were revealed by late enhancement MRI (LE-MRI), which was used as reference for the comparison with 2DS. The infarcted segments showed a significant decrease of tissue velocities, 2DS and SR in comparison to the non-affected segments.Conclusion: 2DS and SR as assessed by VVI seem to be a suitable approach for echocardiographic quantification of global and regional myocardial function as well as a promising tool for multimodal risk stratification after anterior AMI.

Clinic Value of Two‐Dimensional Speckle Tracking Combined with Adenosine Stress Echocardiography for Assessment of Myocardial Viability

“…Although the research indicated that two‐dimensional echocardiography‐derived deformation analysis allows use of a form of myocardial function analysis which was more sensitive, the ability to detect myocardial viability was not hinted. Butz et al 14 have shown that 2D strain imaging has been proposed for the detection of ischemic or viable myocardium in CAD. In their study, they focused on the longitudinal velocities and deformation markers because ischemia especially affects subendocardial fibers first, which are mainly responsible for longitudinal movement 15 .…”

Two‐Dimensional Strain and Twist by Vector Velocity Imaging in Adolescents With Severe Obesity

“…VVI is a method used to quantify myocardial wall motion through the combination of speckle tracking, tissue‐blood border detection, and myocardial shape (28). It is an angle‐independent measurement technique, which has been extensively used to investigate LV strain and twist in health and disease (19,29,30,31) and validated against sonomicrometry (28) and magnetic resonance imaging (32). VVI provides sensitive indexes of myocardial relaxation and contractility relatively independent of loading conditions and is able to detect early functional abnormalities (15,16,17,18).…”

Longitudinal Myocardial Deformation is Selectively Decreased After Pediatric Cardiac Transplantation: A Comparison of Children 1 Year After Transplantation With Normal Subjects Using Velocity Vector Imaging

“…Offline post-processing analysis was performed using the VVI software package (Siemens Medical, Malvern, PA, USA). Velocity Vector Imaging uses a series of unique B-mode pixel-tracking algorithms whose details and methodology are described in the manufacturer's patent US 6,909,914 and patent application publications US 2005/0070798 and US 2005/007415314 [3,4,22].…”