Impact of transducer frequency setting on speckle tracking measures

AbstractSpeckle tracking echocardiography is an emerging technique, which is currently being included in clinical guidelines. We sought to investigate the impact of transducer frequency settings on speckle tracking derived measures. The study comprised of 22 subjects prospectively enrolled for a randomized controlled trial (LOOP-study, Clinicaltrials.gov:NCT02036450). Patients were above 70  years of age with increased risk of stroke, and had an echocardiogram performed, which included focused images of the left ventricle. Focused images were obtained with the transducer frequency set at both 1.7/3.3 and 1.5/3.0 MHz. The images were obtained immediately after each other at the exact same position for the two settings. Speckle tracking was performed in three apical projections, allowing for acquisition of layered global longitudinal strain (GLS) and strain rate measures. Concordance between the frequency settings was tested for endo-, mid-, and epicardial GLS and strain rates by coefficients of variation, bias coefficients and visually displayed by Bland–Altman plots. Bland–Altman plots did not reveal any significant over- or underestimation of any speckle tracking measure. Bias coefficients showed that none of the measurements differed significantly between the two se ttings (bias for GLSendo = − 0.07 ± 2.94, p = 0.91; GLSmid = 0.02 ± 2.70, p = 0.98, GLSepi = 0.07 ± 2.53, p = 0.90). Coefficients of variation were as follows: GL...
Source: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - Category: Radiology Source Type: research