The speckle tracking strain is becoming a frequently used marker of subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Despite the wide range of data concerning left ventricular strain variability in the general population and its changes in various pathologic conditions, the information about the impact of medical therapy on left ventricle strain is limited. This article provides an analysis of published studies of left ventricle strain changes in response to different agents and combinations of medical therapies used for hypertension and congestive heart failure.

Aim      To determine diagnostic capabilities of the expanded protocol for stress echocardiography (stress-EchoCG) with comprehensive evaluation of clinical and echocardiographic indexes in differential diagnosis of dyspnea.Material and methods This study included 243 patients (123 women and 120 men) who were referred to outpatient stress-EchoCG during one calendar month. For 80 patients complaining about shortness of breath, the expanded stress-EchoCG protocol with treadmill exercise was performed. During the exercise, E / e’ and tricuspid regurgitation velocity were determined, and clinical features and possible nature of dyspnea were evaluated.Results Shortness of breath had an ischemic origin in 17.5 % of 80 patients; 13.8 % had criteria of elevated left ventricular end-diastolic pressure; 17.5 % of patients had clinical signs of bronco-pulmonary pathology; 5.0 % had moderate and severe mitral regurgitation; 20 % displayed signs of chronotropic insufficiency during exercise including on the background of beta-blocker therapy; 15.0 % of patients displayed a hypertensive response to exercise, which was associated with signs of chronotropic insufficiency in 50 % of them; and 1.3 % had signs of hyperventilation syndrome. In addition to diagnosis of transient ischemia, additional information about the nature of shortness of breath was obtained for 72.5 % of patients. Based on results of the test, objective causes for dyspnea were not identified for 10.0 % of patients.Conclusion      The expanded stress-EchoCG protocol with exercise allows obtaining information about the nature of dyspnea for most patients with shortness of breath of a non-ischemic origin. For this patient category, expanding the stress-EchoCG protocol does not increase duration of the study and is economically beneficial for diagnosis of chronic heart failure and other causes for shortness of breath.

Assessment of systolic and diastolic ventricular function is one of the main goals of echocardiography. Nevertheless, some patients require data beyond standard echocardiographic protocol for making more precise clinical decision and prognosis determination. The spectrum of novel parameters, including myocardial strain and strain rate, provides more comprehensive evaluation of the initial changes in myocardium in a variety of clinical conditions. New methods of quantifying the systolic function of left and right ventricles can be applied in patients with arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease, hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies, also in patients with valvular heart disease such as aortic stenosis, aortic and mitral insufficiency. Besides strain analysis in patients with myocardial storage diseases, patients on cardiotoxic chemotherapy and patients with heart transplant turned out to be a specific niche for the method. Here, we provide the possibilities of strain analysis in variable heart pathologies in clinical practice.