Number of segments with motion abnormalities is better correlated with infarct size in acute myocardial infarction

Background The relationship between the number of segments with motion abnormalities (SMA) on the bull’s-eye plots of speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) and myocardial infarct size (MIS) on late gadolinium-enhanced cardiac MRI (LGE-cMRI) has not been well characterized. This study aimed to determine MIS using the number of SMA in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI). Methods Left ventricular two-dimensional STE and LGE-cMRI were performed in 380 patients with ST-segment elevation MI within 48 h and 5–6 days after primary percutaneous intervention, respectively. Results Patients with impaired global and regional myocardial strain, work and greater number of SMA had significantly larger infarcts ( P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis that included myocardial strain, work, and number of SMA showed that total number of SMA [odds ratio (OR) = 1.976; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.539–2.538, P < 0.0001], the number of segments with paradoxalic systolic movements (SPSM, OR = 3.703; 95% CI: 2.112–6.493, P < 0.0001) were independent risk factors of large MIS (>19%). The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.904 (0.866~0.942) for total number of SMA was superior to that for global longitudinal strain (GLS, AUC = 0.813, 0.761~0.865), global work efficiency (GWE, AUC = 0.794, 0.730~0.857) and number of SPSM (AUC = 0.851, 0.804–0.899) to predict a large MIS ( P < 0.05). The optimal cutoff value of total number of SMA was 7, with a sensitivity of 85.31%, a specificity of 81.48%, and an accuracy of 83.27%. Conclusion Total number of SMA is better associated with infarct size, which provided an incremental prognostic value above established prognostic parameters such as GLS and GWE.