Global and Regional Left Ventricular Strain Indices in Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients with Ventricular Arrhythmias and Moderately Abnormal Ejection Fraction

The aim of the study described here was to compare myocardial strains in ischemic heart patients with and without sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) and moderately abnormal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) to investigate which index could better predict VT on the basis of the analysis of global and regional left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. We studied 467 patients with previous myocardial infarction and LVEF >35%. Fifty-one patients had documented VT, and 416 patients presented with no VT. LV volumes and score index were obtained by 2-D echocardiography. Longitudinal, radial and circumferential strains were determined. Strains of the infarct, border and remote zones were also obtained. There were no differences in standard LV 2-D parameters between patients with and those without VT. Receiver operating characteristic values were −12.7% for global longitudinal strain (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.72), −4.8% for posterior-inferior wall circumferential strain (AUC = 0.80), 61 ms for LV mechanical dispersion (AUC = 0.84), −10.1% for longitudinal strain of the border zone (AUC = 0.86) and −9.2% for circumferential strain of the border zone (AUC = 0.89). In patients with previous myocardial infarction and moderately abnormal LVEF, peri-infarct circumferential strain was the strongest predictor of documented ventricular arrhythmias among all strain quantitative indices. Additionally, strain values from posterior-inferior wall infarctions had a higher association with arrhythmic events compared with global strain.