Alteration in the global and regional myocardial strain patterns in patients with inferior ST-elevation myocardial infarction prior to and after percutaneous coronary intervention

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the alteration on regional and global strains of left and right ventricle (LV, RV) in patients with inferior wall ST-elevation myocardial infarction (MI). Patients were examined prior to and 7 days after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using speckle-tracking techniques. Fifty-nine patients (36 males and 23 females) and 60 healthy controls (40 males and 20 females) were enrolled in this study. LV strains were measured from three deformations including radial, longitudinal, and circumferential. RV strains were measured only from the longitudinal. Three types of LV global strains were significantly lower in patients than in controls, and LV global longitudinal and circumferential strains were moderately improved by PCI. The LV regional strains reduced significantly in most of the segments (87%) after inferior wall MI and over half of them (60%) were improved by PCI. The RV global longitudinal strains were significantly lower in patients than in controls, and they were moderately improved by PCI. In conclusion, the regional and global strains of LV and RV were reduced in patients with inferior wall MI, and PCI most markedly improved the global strains and regional strains of the infarct and adjacent myocardium in the apical and middle levels.