Medical Student Research Forum Posters

Myocardial strain imaging using 2D-speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) is a relatively new method for analyzing myocardial function. Myocardial strain measures the shortening of myocytes in three directions: longitudinally, circumferentially, and radially. While ejection fraction (EF) is a common measure of heart health, strain measurements are more sensitive to changes in ventricular function and thus can be used to detect subclinical cardiac abnormalities that may not be seen by EF measurements. Strain values for various chambers have implications for identifying and treating many different cardiomyopathies. Speckle-tracking echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) are the two primary methods for measuring strain using echocardiography. STE is more clinically relevant than TDI due to its ability to distinguish passive tethering from active contractility and its independence of ultrasound beam angle. Reliability of strain measurements from STE is not universally agreed upon due to vendor differences in strain analysis algorithms. LV GLS tends to consistently have the greatest reliability and thus the most significant clinical application. LV GCS and GRS, LA GLS, RA GLS, and RV GLS have more mixed results and have not been implemented as widely as LV GLS.