Two-dimensional speckle tracking strain in follow-up of adults with transposition of the great arteries: Should it be used in daily clinical practice?

Strain imaging by non-invasive speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a reliable technique for angle-independent tracking of myocardial deformation.This technique has become an important quantitative tool for assessment of left (LV) and right ventricular (RV) function and is increasingly applied in clinical practice. 1,2Global longitudinal strain (GLS) averaged from the apical views is the most robust and reproducible of LV deformation parameters.It has been shown to be a powerful diagnostic and prognostic tool 2,3 and is now recommended for the quantitative assessment of LV and RV function. 2wo reviews published in 2017 demonstrated that GLS is particularly valuable for the assessment of chemotherapyinduced cardiotoxicity, undifferentiated left ventricular hypertrophy and ischemic heart disease, and has also been shown to have superior prognostic value in valvular heart disease and various cardiomyopathies. 1,4nalysis of RV longitudinal strain derived from the RV free wall is currently recommended for the assessment of RV function in patients with suspected RV dysfunction due to conditions such as pulmonary arterial hypertension,