ASSESSMENT OF REGIONAL LEFT VENTRICLE SYSTOLIC FUNCTION BY DOPPLER STRAIN IMAGING IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: The objective of study was to evaluate regional myocardial function by
strain (S) echocardiography in patients with or without diastolic dysfunction and
healthy individuals with normal left ventricular ejection fraction.
Methodology: This crossectional comparative study was conducted at
department of cardiology, Jinnah Hospital Lahore, from January 2012 to October
2012. Thirty hypertensive and thirty healthy individuals were enrolled in study.
Strain Doppler echocardiography was used to evaluate 30 patients with
hypertension and 30 age matched control subjects. With pulsed-wave Doppler,
mitral inflow velocities were obtained to measure diastolic E and A waves, E/A
ratio, and E-wave deceleration time(DT); with tissue doppler imaging early
diastolic (Ea), and late diastolic velocities(Aa) and longitudinal peak systolic
strain (S ) values were measured.
Results: Mean age of study population in control subjects (Group A) 45±6 years
and in hypertensive subjects (Group B) 53±7 years. Among control subjects, 18
were males (60%) and 12(40%) were females. In hypertensive subjects
16(53.3%) were males while 14(46.6%) were females. No difference was noted
regarding age, sex, body surface area and heart rate. Among the hypertensive
patients, 14(46.6%) were having diastolic dysfunction while 16(53.3%) patient
were without diastolic dysfunction. Peak strain values were significantly
decreased in patients with hypertension with or without diastolic dysfunction as
compared to healthy individuals.
Conclusion: Hypertensive patients with or without diastolic dysfunction have
reduced left ventricular systolic longitudinal strain.