[Comparison of radial two-dimensional strain and regional wall motion abnormalities in the patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting].

BACKGROUND: Measurement of myocardial strain by echocardiogram is a novel approach in quantitatively assessing regional ventricular function. We investigated the relationship between left ventricular radial strain and traditional visual assessment of regional wall motion abnormalities. METHODS: We obtained midesophageal short-axis view of the left ventricle at the level of papillary muscles with a transesophageal echocardiography in 32 patients before and after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. Off-line analysis of echocardiogram was performed by the two independent observers. A total of 241 segments were divided into 5 grades (normal, mild hypokinesis, severe hypokinesis, akinesis, dyskinesis) according to the grading scale of ASE/SCA recommendations. A peak systolic radial strain was determined for each segment with a two-dimensional tissue-tracking method. RESULTS: The average peak systolic strain was significantly different among normal (38.4 +/- 16.1%), mild hypokinetic (30.8 +/- 14%), and severe hypokinetic (17 +/- 13.1%) segments, while no significant difference was observed between severe hypokinetic and akinetic segments. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that intraoperative strain measurement by transesophageal echocardiography has a good reproducibility and allows quantitative assessment of regional ventricular function during cardiac surgery. However, the peak systolic radial strain may is less capable of differentiating segments with severely impaired wall motion.