Assessment of right ventricular function in patients with first inferior myocardial infarction: strain imaging study

Objective:The aim of the study was to assess strain and strain rate (SR) properties of the right ventricle (RV) in patients with RV myocardial infarction (MI).Background:Quantitative assessment of RV function is still challenging due to its complex anatomy and thin wall structure, and therefore is not incorporated into daily clinical practice. Two-dimensional strain and SR analyses are novel Doppler-independent techniques to obtain these measurements of myocardial movement and deformation. These methods have been frequently used to assess left ventricular function; however, they have yet rarely been used to examine RV function, despite RV function is an important prognostic factor in patients with acute first inferior MI.Patients and methods:A total of 40 patients with acute inferior MI were included in this study; 20 patients had ECG signs of inferior MI without RV infarction (group II) and 20 patients had ECG signs of inferior MI with RV infarction (group III). In all, 20 age-matched and sex-matched healthy volunteers were included as a control group (group I), using two-dimensional speckle tracking measurements of RV free wall longitudinal strain and SR in the apical four-chamber.Results:A statistically highly significant difference was found among the three groups regarding the peak systolic longitudinal strain at apical, mid, and basal segments of RV free wall (P < 0.0001), and significant difference was found among the three groups regarding The peak systolic SR at basal and mid segments of RV free wall (P < 0.05).Conclusion:This study demonstrates that RV strain and SR were lower in patients with left ventricular inferior wall MI with RV infarction compared with those without RV infarction.