Gender differences in two-dimensional and three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography left ventricular measurements among healthy preschool pediatric population

BACKGROUND: Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) is an upcoming echocardiographic modality to measure global as well as segmental left ventricular systolic function expressed numerically as strain values independent of angle and ventricular geometry. We conducted this prospective study on 200 healthy preschool children with structurally normal hearts, to determine gender-based differences in two-dimensional (2D) global longitudinal strain (GLS) and three-dimensional (3D) GLS. RESULTS: Age-matched 104 males and 96 females were included, 2D GLS results for the males showed longitudinal strain ranging from - 18.1 to - 29.8 with a mean of - 21.7202 ± 5.094322, while for females 2D GLS ranged from - 18.1 to - 30.7 with a mean of - 22.0646 ± 2.167802, also 3D GLS values were measured and compared based on gender, where 3D GLS in males ranged from - 18 to - 24 with a mean value of 20.49 ± 1.28, while for females ranged from - 17 to - 30 with a mean value of 20.47 ± 1.755. The gender-based difference for both 2D GLS and 3D GLS showed non-significant P values. CONCLUSION: In healthy subjects below 6 years, 2D STE and 3D STE values showed no difference between males and females, unlike the adult population, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the few studies in the literature that aims at comparing these measurements in the healthy pediatric group. In routine clinical practice, these values may be used to assess myocardial function or the early signs of malfunction.