• Dale A Burkett, Cameron Slorach, Sonali S Patel, Andrew N Redington, D Dunbar Ivy, Luc Mertens, Adel K Younoszai, and Mark K Friedberg.
• From the Division of Cardiology, Heart Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado, Aurora (D.A.B., S.S.P., A.K.Y.); and Division of Cardiology, The Labatt Family Heart Center, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (C.S., A.N.R., L.M., M.K.F.).
• Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015 Aug 1; 8 (8).

BackgroundThrough ventricular interdependence, pulmonary hypertension (PH) induces left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. We hypothesized that LV strain/strain rate, surrogate measures of myocardial contractility, are reduced in pediatric PH and relate to invasive hemodynamics, right ventricular strain, and functional measures of PH.Methods And ResultsAt 2 institutions, echocardiography was prospectively performed in 54 pediatric PH patients during cardiac catheterization, and in 54 matched controls. Patients with PH had reduced LV global longitudinal strain (LS; -18.8 [-17.3 to -20.4]% versus -20.2 [-19.0 to -20.9]%; P=0.0046) predominantly because of reduced basal (-12.9 [-10.8 to -16.3]% versus -17.9 [-14.5 to -20.7]%; P<0.0001) and mid (-17.5 [-15.5 to -19.0]% versus -21.1 [-19.1 to -23.0]%; P<0.0001) septal strain. Basal global circumferential strain was reduced (-18.7 [-15.7 to -22.1]% versus -20.6 [-19.0 to -22.5]%; P=0.0098), as were septal and free-wall segments. Mid circumferential strain was reduced within the free-wall. Strain rates were reduced in similar patterns. Basal septum LS, the combined average LS of basal and mid interventricular septal segments, correlated strongly with degree of PH (r=0.66; P<0.0001), pulmonary vascular resistance (r=0.60; P<0.0001), and right ventricular free-wall LS (r=0.64; P<0.0001). Brain natriuretic peptide levels correlated moderately with septal LS (r=0.48; P=0.0038). PH functional class correlated moderately with LV free-wall LS (r=-0.48; P=0.0051). The septum, shared between ventricles and affected by septal shift, was the most affected LV region in PH.ConclusionsPediatric PH patients demonstrate reduced LV strain/strain rate, predominantly within the septum, with relationships to invasive hemodynamics, right ventricular strain, and functional PH measures.© 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

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