Impact of the Severity of Mitral Stenosis on the LV Systolic Function as Assessed by 2D Strain Using Speckle Tracking

Abstract

heumatic heart disease remains a considerable cause of cardio-vascular morbidity and mortality in developing countries where two thirds of world’s population live. Mitral stenosis is the most common valve affection of rheumatic heart disease worldwide. The left ventricular ejection fraction is the most widely used index of contractile function, but due to the visual component, assessment of endocardial excursion is subjective leading to inter-observer variability. Speckle-tracking echocardiography is an imaging technique developed as a method to objectively quantify myocardial function and analyzes cardiac motion and deformation by tracking naturally occurring speckle patterns in the myocardium. This study was a case-control study involving 80 individuals which included 60 patients having mitral stenosis who presented to the outpatient clinics and cath-lab of cardiology department in Ain Shams University Hospitals and 20 healthy volunteers, The patients suffering from mitral stenosis were subdivided into 3 sub-groups: GROUP (1) 20 Patients having severe mitral stenosis (MV Area less than 1 cm²). GROUP (2) 20 Patients having moderate mitral stenosis (MV Area more than 1cm² and less than 1.5 cm²). GROUP (3) 20 Patients having mild mitral stenosis (MV Area more than 1.5 cm²).