Abstract
Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) and TDI-derived strain provide considerably accurate information in the non-invasive assessment of local myocardial functions. Given its high temporal and spatial resolution, TDI allows assessment of local myocardial functions in each phase of cardiac cycle. However, the most important limitation of this method is its angle dependence. New techniques to measure myocardial deformation, such as speckle tracking echocardiography, overcome the angle-dependence limitation of TDI-derived strain. Moreover, these techniques provide more unique information about myocardial fiber orientation. This review examines the architectural structure and function of the myocardium and includes technical revisions of this information that will provide a basis for STE.
Highlights
In the assessment of cardiac function and loss of function, it is essential to understand the helical architecture of myocardial fibers and concordantly examine the fibers in terms of shortening, thickening and torsion movements around its own axis during systole and diastole [In addition to the closing of two opposite walls, basal segment movement towards the apex and their rotary motion in opposite directions result in the formation of vortex flows, wherein energy is considerably more preserved compared with linear flow mechanics
Myocardial Fiber Mechanics The left ventricle (LV) performs longitudinal shorteninglengthening movements around the long axis as well as thickening and thinning movements around transverse axis, whereas both thickening-thinning and lengthening-shortening movements occur in the short axis throughout the cardiac cycle [2] (Figures 1 and 2)
As a tissue that moves and displaces in time, the left ventricle likely fulfill this function via shape changes by moving in different segments and at various velocities [3]
Summary
In the assessment of cardiac function and loss of function, it is essential to understand the helical architecture of myocardial fibers and concordantly examine the fibers in terms of shortening, thickening and torsion movements around its own axis during systole and diastole [In addition to the closing of two opposite walls, basal segment movement towards the apex and their rotary motion in opposite directions result in the formation of vortex flows (vertical flows), wherein energy is considerably more preserved compared with linear flow mechanics. Myocardial Fiber Mechanics The left ventricle (LV) performs longitudinal shorteninglengthening movements around the long axis as well as thickening and thinning movements around transverse axis, whereas both thickening-thinning (in the radial axis) and lengthening-shortening (in the circumferential axis) movements occur in the short axis throughout the cardiac cycle [2] (Figures 1 and 2).
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