Bilayer approach to ventricular septal deformation analysis by tissue Doppler imaging and speckle-tracking imaging in children with atrial and ventricular septal defect

Background Tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE) employs frequency changes of ultrasonic waves to determine myocardial velocity, analogous to the utilization of conventional Doppler ultrasonography for evaluating blood flow. Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) monitors myocardial natural acoustic reflectors (‘speckles’) across frames to assess deformation (strain) and deformation velocity (strain rate). Aim To contrast the left and right sides of the ventricular septum to the free walls of the left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV). Patients and methods A total of 60 children were enrolled in this study, they were divided equally into: children with isolated atrial septal defect (ASD), isolated ventricular septal defect (VSD) and healthy children, sex- and age-matched, had been recruited as a control group. Results The echocardiographic parameters of LV left interventricular septum (LV IVS) were lowered in the cases with ASD as contrasted to the control, and this variation achieved a statistically substantial variation in the systolic strain (SS) and peak mitral valve annular velocity at systole (S). The echocardiographic parameters of RV IVS were lowered in the cases with ASD as compared with the control, but it did not achieve a significant difference except for the peak tricuspid valve annular velocity at S. The LV IVS SS was significantly lower as compared with RV IVS SS in the VSD cases. No significant difference existed among RV IVS and LV IVS in the VSD cases regarding the tested echocardiographic parameters. Conclusion Tissue Doppler echocardiography and STE should be used as noninvasive techniques for detecting cardiac involvement in children with ASD and VSD.