Evaluation of perioperative changes of left ventricular motions in children with congenital heart disease by vector strain imaging

Objective: Use vector strain imaging (VSI) to study the perioperative changes in children with congenital heart disease of left to right shunt, and discuss the efficiency and feasibility of VSI. Methods: Twenty-one healthy children(group N) and 27 children with congenital heart disease (including 16 with ventricular septal defects, 11 with patent ductus arteri- ousus) divided into group P (pre-operative) and group A (1 week after operation) were examined, then motion velocities of the 16 left ventricular wall segments in three directions (radial, length, circle) were calculated. Results: ①Comparing the motion velocity of group P with that of group N: group P velocities were higher than group N velocities (P0.05) in radial motion of segment 9/16, circle motion of segment 3/16, length motion of segment 7/16. ②Comparing the motion velocities of group A with that of group N: group A velocities were higher than group N velocities (P0.05) in radial motion of segment 5/16, circle motion of segment 3/16, length motion of segment 2/16. ③Comparing the motion velocity of group A with that of group P: group A velocities were much lower than group P velocities(P0.05), including radial motion of segment 4/16, length motion of segment 9/16. Circle motion of B0 and B1 have no significant difference(P0.05). Conclusion: In congenital heart disease with left to right shunt, motions of left ventricle are reduced to normal level regularly with the hemodynamics changes in the group of 1 week after operation. VSI is able to analyze perioperative changes of left ventricular wall motions in radial, circle, length directions.