Feasibility of two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography of aortic valve in patients with calcific aortic valve disease.

Abstract Calcific aortic valve (AV) disease is associated with increased stiffness and reduced motion of AV leaflets, has a progressive course, and can develop into aortic stenosis (AS). Our aim was to evaluate whether two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) may be used for the assessment of AV stiffness. We applied STE to AV leaflets in patients with various degrees of degenerative changes of AV and measured strain as an absolute value of the radial deformation of AV leaflets. Deformation of AV expressed as averaged AV strain was greatest in patients with a normal AV (23.4±6.4 %), compared to those with aortic sclerosis (12.9±3.2 %), moderate-to-severe AS (11.9±4 %), and severe AS (10.9±3.5 %) (p