Frequency and risk factors of impaired left ventricular global longitudinal strain in patients with end-stage renal disease: a two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiographic study

Background: It has been identified that two-dimensional speckle-tracking imaging (2D-STI) enables the early detection of left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction. This study’s objective was to evaluate the frequency of impaired LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) and investigate the factors in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with preserved LV ejection fraction (LVEF) associated with the impaired GLS. Methods: A total of 100 ESRD patients with preserved LVEF who underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were studied. The GLS was calculated as the average of peak longitudinal strain from 18 myocardial segments obtained utilizing the three-standard apical imagings. According to a predefined cutoff, a GLS absolute value of less than 18% was considered subclinical LV systolic dysfunction. Results: Impaired LV GLS <18% was detected in 58 participants (58/100, 58%). Multivariate analysis exhibited that increased LV mass index was independently associated with impaired GLS <18% [odds ratio (OR): 1.028, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.004–1.052, P=0.020]. For sequential logistic regression models, model 1, based on parameters included in multivariate logistic regression (χ 2 =30.0), was improved by the addition of the LV mass index (χ 2 =37.4, P<0.01). Conclusions: The frequency of impaired LV GLS in ESRD patients with preserved LVEF was relatively high. An increased LVEF was independently associated with impaired LV GLS.