Automatic Quantification of Left Ventricular Systolic Wall Thickening Using Two-Dimensional Strain Assessed by a Novel Tissue-Tracking System

Abstract

Background. A novel tissue-tracking system (TTS) that enables automatic assessment of two-dimensional (2-D) strain of left ventricle (LV) segments simultaneously from gray-scale digital echocardiography images has been validated in an animal study at our institution. We sought to define the application of TTS for automatic quantification of systolic wall thickening (WT) with a study in humans. Methods.We assessed 202 LV segments from 101 good and fair quality digital echo images acquired from 35 subjects. Radial strain was automatically derived from displacement between two points of interest placed at the epi-and endocardial borders of each segment. Peak radial strain at each segment was compared with manually measured systolic wall thickening.Results. There were good correlation and agreement between 2-D radial strain assessed by TTS and manually measured systolic WT in overall subjects (r = 0.89, p < 0.001). The correlation and agreements were better in good quality images (r = 0.94, p < 0.001) rather than that in fair quality images (r = 0.82, p < 0.001). Conclusion.The novel TTS provides a method for automatic quantification of human LV systolic wall thickening. (J Echocardiogr 2005; 3: 27-32)

Myocardial Systolic Strain in Normal Children Using a Tissue Tracking System

“…A smaller initial length might be better for the comparison of regional strain differences in younger children. Bland-Altman analysis in our study showed that the SD of interobserver difference was 4.7%, which is similar to data by Sukmawan et al [4]. Adequate initial length is an important factor promoting reproducibility in the analysis of various directional strains in different age groups.…”

“…Recently, Sukmawan et al examined systolic radial strain in adults using TTS [4] and identified a good correlation between ventricular wall radial strain assessed by TTS and manually measured systolic wall thickening. We wished to apply this system to a pediatric population, and we initially used TTS to measure myocardial strain values in three directions in healthy children.…”

Myocardial Deformation in Patients with Beta‐Thalassemia Major: A Speckle Tracking Echocardiographic Study

“…Our finding of increased systolic radial strain is intriguing. Radial strain as assessed by STE has been shown to correlate closely with LV systolic wall thickening 25 . While systolic wall thickening has been used to measure regional myocardial function, mathematical modeling has shown that left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with heart failure can augment systolic wall thickening and preservation of ejection fraction 26 .…”

Myocardial Deformation in Acute Myocarditis With Normal Left Ventricular Wall Motion - A Cardiac Magnetic Resonance and 2-Dimensional Strain Echocardiographic Study -

“…This software provides angle-independent 2D strain based on speckle tracking. [21][22][23] For the quantification of radial and circumferential strain, the software was applied on parasternal short-axis views, while for the quantification of longitudinal strain, the same software was applied on apical views. More specifically, XStrain 24 relies on a "feature tracking" algorithm and, in order to improve the border tracking results, it combines speckle tracking based with other information such as tissue-to-blood border detection, the periodicity of the cardiac cycle and the fact that the cardiac borders maintain their own "overall spatial coherence" over time.…”