Speckle-tracking echocardiography global longitudinal strain for left (CV 8.9%) and right (CV 7.3%) ventricles showed high test-retest reliability, allowing smaller sample sizes for follow-up.
Observational (n=50)
Do speckle-tracking echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance feature-tracking provide better test-retest reproducibility of LV and RV systolic function than conventional parameters in healthy volunteers and heart failure patients?
Speckle-tracking echocardiography for LV and RV global longitudinal strain shows high test-retest reliability, supporting its use for longitudinal follow-up and reducing required sample sizes in studies.
AIMS: Reproducible evaluation of left (LV) and right ventricular (RV) function is crucial for clinical decision-making and risk stratification. We evaluated whether speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) and cardiac magnetic resonance feature-tracking (cMR-FT) global longitudinal (GLS) and circumferential strains allow better test-retest reproducibility of LV and RV systolic function than conventional cMR and echocardiographic parameters. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty healthy volunteers and 20 chronic heart failure patients underwent cMR and STE twice on separate days to evaluate test-retest coefficient of variation (CV), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and estimated sample sizes for significant changes in LV and RV function. Among LV parameters, cMR-left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) had the highest reproducibility (CV = 6.7%, ICC = 0.98), significantly better than cMR-FT-GLS (CV = 15.1%, ICC = 0.84), global circumferential strains (CV = 11.5%, ICC = 0.94) and echocardiographic LVEF (CV = 11.3%, ICC = 0.93). STE-LV-GLS (CV = 8.9%, ICC = 0.94) had significantly better reproducibility than cMR-FT-LV-GLS. Among RV parameters, STE-RV-GLS (CV = 7.3%, ICC = 0.93) had significantly better CV than cMR-right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) (CV = 13%, ICC = 0.82). cMR-FT-RV-GLS (CV = 43%, ICC = 0.39) performed poorly with significantly lower reproducibility than all other RV parameters. Owing to their superior interstudy reproducibility, cMR-LVEF (n = 12), cMR-RVEF (n = 41), STE-LV-GLS and STE-RV-GLS (both n = 14) were the parameters allowing the lowest calculated sample sizes to detect 10% change in LV or RV systolic function. CONCLUSION: STE-LV-GLS and STE-RV-GLS showed higher test-retest reliability than other echocardiographic measurements of LV and RV function. They also allowed smaller calculated sample sizes, supporting the use of STE-LV and RV-GLS for longitudinal follow-up of LV and RV function.
Houard et al. (2020) conducted an observational in Healthy volunteers and chronic heart failure (n=50). Speckle-tracking echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance feature-tracking vs. Conventional cMR and echocardiographic parameters was evaluated on Test-retest coefficient of variation and intraclass correlation coefficient. Speckle-tracking echocardiography global longitudinal strain for left (CV 8.9%) and right (CV 7.3%) ventricles showed high test-retest reliability, allowing smaller sample sizes for follow-up.