Right ventricular myocardial deformation patterns in children with congenital heart disease associated with right ventricular pressure overload

AIMS: Longitudinal wall motion of the right ventricle (RV) has been thoroughly studied in patients with RV dysfunction. However, circumferential strain of the RV free wall has yet to be investigated. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the utility of RV free wall circumferential strain. METHODS AND RESULTS: Strain profile curves were obtained using speckle tracking echocardiography from the subcostal left ventricular (LV) short-axis view in 30 normal children (normal group) and 25 patients with RV pressure overload (RVO group). The time-strain curves of three individual segmental (anterior, lateral, and inferior segments) and global circumferential deformations were evaluated. RV ejection fraction (RVEF), RV systolic pressure (RVSP), and RV fractional area change obtained in the four-chamber view and LV short-axis view RVFAC (4CH) and RVFAC (SAX), respectively were measured, and their relationships with RV free wall deformation were assessed. In the normal group, circumferential strain was significantly lower in the anterior segment than in the other segments. The inferior segment had a significantly larger strain than the other segments in the RVO group. Circumferential strain was predominant over longitudinal RV free wall strain in the RVO group (-18.4 ± 3.9 vs. -14.2 ± 3.8%, respectively; P < 0.005), whereas no significant difference between them was observed in the normal group (-23.0 ± 3.9 vs. -22.4 ± 4.7%, respectively). Global circumferential strain had a significantly higher correlation with RVFAC (4CH), RVFAC (SAX), RVEF, and RVSP than global longitudinal strain (P < 0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: RV free wall circumferential strain provides better information about RV function than longitudinal strain in children with RVO.