The state of thestrain and strainrate at rest and during the load test, depending on the severity of coronary artery disease

Pirtskhalava Sofiya D., Asymbekova Elmira U., Shakhnazaryan Lusine S., Yusufov Boris T., Buziashvili Yury Iosifovich

Myocardial strain is one of the new objective indicators of the functional state of the left ventricular myocardium. Changes in the strain during induced ischemia were studied predominantly with dobutamine stress echocardiography. In the stress test myocardial strain were not studied. Aim: to study the state of myocardial strain and the strain rate at rest and during exercise test, depending on the severity of coronary artery disease. Material and Methods: 34 patients with coronary heart disease have been examined. All patients underwent standard examination, stress echocardiography with a load, tissue dopplerography, coronary angiography. All patients were divided into 2 groups depending on the severity of coronary artery disease - group 1 - patients with a single vascular lesion, group 2 - with a multi-vascular lesion. Results: In group 1, all patients had a lesion of one artery - the LAD in 83% of patients and in 17% - RCA. Myocardial strain at rest was reduced in patients of groups 1 and 2. In group 1, the average strain was -15.5 ± 2.02%, in group 2 - 14.9 ± 2.5%. The tolerance threshold for exercise in group 1 was higher than in group 2 (p = 0.01). In response to the load, the strain is worsened in both groups. Conclusion: Changes in myocardial strain during stress echocardiography is a significant marker of the presence of myocardial ischemia and determines the severity of coronary artery disease.

Keywords:ischemic heart disease, left ventricle, stress echocardiography, myocardial strain, myocardial strain rate, systolic function, diastolic function.