ASSESSMENT OF LEFT VENTRICULAR FUNCTION USING SPECKLE TRACKING ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN PATIENTS WITH ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION

Objective: Hypertension leads to left ventricular hypertrophy which directly predisposes to and aggravates irreversible deterioration of LV function. Novel quantitative techniques in echocardiographic deformation imaging such as speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) can measure LV strain. In this study, we will test speckle-tracking echocardiography as a diagnostic tool for the early detection of cardiac malfunction due to arterial hypertension Design and method: This cross-sectional, case-control study was held at Beni Suef University Hospitals between March/2018 and February/2020. The study included 90 patients that were divided into 3 groups. Group I (control group) included 30 people without apparent cardiovascular risk factors and matched in age and sex with the study groups. Group II included 40 hypertensive patients without echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Group III included 20 hypertensive patients with echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). All patients underwent full clinical examination, conventional echocardiography, and 2D speckle tracking echocardiography Results: The studied groups were comparable regarding age and sex. Septal and posterior wall thickness and left ventricular mass index were significantly higher among group III. Otherwise, other conventional echo parameters were comparable. There was statistically significant difference between the 3 groups regarding 2D speckle tracking echocardiography Conclusions: In hypertensive patients with or without LVH, subclinical reduction or impairment of the LV systolic function can occur & may not be detected with conventional echocardiography but can be detected by 2D STE presented by mainly decreased myocardial segments deformation detected by decreased longtitudinal systolic strain mainly affecting basal segment