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Evaluation of myocardial strain and artery elasticity using speckle tracking echocardiography and high-resolution ultrasound in patients with bicuspid aortic valve

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Abstract

Reduced artery elasticity and reduced myocardial strain were present in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). Their relation to dilation of proximal aorta is unclear. We aimed to study their relation to dilation of proximal aorta. We studied 57 BAV patients categorized into 2 subgroup according to proximal ascending aortic dimensions (nondilated <35 mm and dilated ≥35 mm). Twenty-nine healthy subjects were recruited as control. Aortic and carotid strain, distensibility and stiffness index were derived. Left ventricular myocardial strain were acquired with speckle-tracking echocardiography. BAV patients with dilation of proximal ascending aorta had lower aortic strain (4.1 ± 4.2 % vs. 7.1 ± 3.5 %) and carotid strain (4.8 ± 1.9 % vs. 10.6 ± 4.2 %), lower aortic distensibility (1.4 ± 1.5 cm2 dyn−1 10−6 vs. 2.5 ± 1.5 cm2 dyn−1 10−6) and carotid distensibility (1.6 ± 0.7 cm2 dyn−1 10−6 vs. 3.9 ± 2.4 cm2 dyn−1 10−6), higher aortic stiffness index (19.7 ± 14.1 vs. 8.3 ± 4.9) and carotid stiffness index (12.2 ± 8.5 vs. 5.0 ± 2.2), and lower global circumferential (−15.9 ± 5.8 % vs. −19.1 ± 4.1 %), radial (19.3 ± 11.6 % vs. 29.8 ± 14.9 %) and longitudinal (−15.7 ± 3.4 % vs. −18.4 ± 3.4 %) compared with those without dilation of proximal ascending aorta. All mean values are different to p < 0.05. Dilation of proximal ascending aorta is associated with more advanced reduction of aortic and carotid elasticity and myocardial strain in BAV patients, supporting the need for detailed and extensive vascular and cardiac surveillance in BAV patients.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation of China (grant number 81571695), Beijing, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Ultrasound, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Road, Wuhan, 430030, China

    Yang Li, You-Bin Deng, Xiao-Jun Bi, Ya-Ni Liu, Jun Zhang & Li Li

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  1. Yang Li
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Correspondence to You-Bin Deng.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Li, Y., Deng, YB., Bi, XJ. et al. Evaluation of myocardial strain and artery elasticity using speckle tracking echocardiography and high-resolution ultrasound in patients with bicuspid aortic valve. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 32, 1063–1069 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-016-0876-2

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