Razvan O. Mada
Catholic University Leuven, Belgium
Title: Role of Echocardiographic Deformation Imaging in the Evaluation of the Left Ventricular Function
Biography
Biography: Razvan O. Mada
Abstract
Echocardiography is a widespread and cost-effective method which allows a non-invasive assessment of the cardiac function and morphology. For many years, the evaluation of the left ventricular (LV) function was limited to the ejection fraction or to the visual estimation of the wall motion and thickening. Despite their clinical usefulness, these parameters are highly subjective, relying on the experience of the investigator. Echocardiographic deformation imaging has emerged as an objective alternative to quantify global and regional myocardial function in adult as well as in pediatric population. Both Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) and Speckle Tracking Imaging allow quantifying myocardial function beyond what can be done by visual analysis, proving their potential under different patho-physiological conditions.
The ability to improve the interpretation of the systolic and diastolic function promoted functional deformation imaging from the research field to the routine clinical practice. TDI is essentials for the evaluation of the diastolic LV function, becoming part of the clinical standard echocardiogram. Rotational deformation parameters like twist and torsion have the potential to overcome the limitations of the previous method. However, current technical limitations make them inappropriate for the clinical usage. For the characterization of the global systolic LV function, global longitudinal strain is a feasible and robust parameter. Regional deformation parameters are able to detect subtle changes of the myocardial function. Moreover, they have particular patterns in different clinical conditions providing additional diagnostic information. Standardization of the echocardiographic deformation imaging will eliminate the intervendor variability of the software algorithms, allowing common reference values.