AUTHOR=Taha Mohamad B. , Jeng Eric I. , Salerno Michael , Moguillansky Diego , Keeley Ellen C. , Al-Ani Mohammad A. TITLE=Left Ventricular Strain Is Associated With Myocardial Recovery Following ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, a Prospective Longitudinal CMR Study JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2022.842619 DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2022.842619 ISSN=2297-055X ABSTRACT=Background

Infarct size following ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is an important determinate of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Cardiac magnetic resonance feature tracking (CMR-FT) is a technique that allows for the assessment of myocardial function via quantification of longitudinal, radial, and circumferential strain. We investigated the association between CMR-FT-derived myocardial global strain and myocardial recovery.

Methods

A prospective study on patients presenting with STEMI treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was conducted. CMR imaging was obtained at two interval time points, the baseline within 2 weeks of hospital discharge and follow-up at 6 months. Strain analysis was performed via FT-CMR, and recovery was quantified by the area of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE).

Results

A total of n = 14 patients met inclusion and exclusion criteria and were analyzed. There was a significant reduction in the infarct size, as measured by LGE mass percentage of the left ventricular muscle mass, between the initial and follow-up CMR (19.7%, IQR 12.2–23.9 vs. 17.1%, IQR 8.3–22.5, p = 0.04). Initial strain parameters were inversely correlated with the initial edema mass and the decrease in LGE mass between the initial and follow-up CMR. All LV global strains had high accuracy for the prediction of a reduction in LGE mass by 50% or more.

Conclusions

LV global strains measured after primary PCI can predict the extent of myocardial recovery.