Assessment of left ventricular systolic function by deformation imaging derived from speckle tracking: a comparison between 2D and 3D echo modalities.

AIMS: Deformation imaging is undergoing continuous development with the emergence of new technologies allowing the evaluation of the different components of strain simultaneously in three dimensions. Assessment of all global strain parameters in 2D and 3D modes and comparison with LVEF have been the focus of our study.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Out of 166 patients, 147 were evaluated with the use of both 2D and 3D speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE). Global strain parameters including longitudinal (GLS), circumferential (GCS), radial (GRS) and area strain (AS), as well as left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction were examined. Analysis of strain with 3D STE was faster than with 2D STE (7 ± 2 vs. 24 ± 4 min, P < 0.05). GLS values were similar between 2D and 3D modes (-14 ± 4 vs. -13 ± 3, NS), while slight differences were observed for GCS (-24 ± 7 vs. -27 ± 7, P < 0.05) and GRS (27 ± 9 vs. 24 ± 9, P < 0.05). All 2D and 3D strain parameters showed good accuracy in the identification of 2D-LVEF <55% with AS demonstrating superiority over GCS and GRS but not GLS.

CONCLUSION: Three-dimensional STE allows accurate and faster analysis of deformation when compared with 2D STE and might represent a viable alternative in the evaluation of global LV function.