Three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography in evaluating left ventricular function in patients with triple vessel coronary artery disease without myocardial infarction

Purpose: Using three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3D-STE) to evaluate left ventricular (LV) function in patients with triple vessel coronary artery disease(TVD) without myocardial infarction. Methods: Sixty patients with TVD without myocardial infarction were divided into two groups according to the results of coronary angiography. Group B (n=31)：50%≤the stenosis rates of all triple vessel coronary artery＜75%; Group C (n=29)：the stenosis rates of all triple vessel coronary artery≥75%. Thirty healthy subjects were recruited as the group A. We measured LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volume (LVEDV, LVESV) and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) using real-time three-dimensional echocardiography. The 3D-STE parameters of LV included global longitudinal strain (GLS), global area strain (GAS), global radial strain (GRS) and global circumferential strain (GCS). Results: In group C, LVEDV and LVESV were significantly increased (all P ＜0.05), while LVEF, GLS, GRS, GCS and GAS were significantly decreased compared with groups A and B (all P ＜0.05). In groups A and B, there were no statistical differences in LVEDV, LVESV and LVEF. However, GLS, GCS and GAS were lower in group B than in group A (all P ＜0.05). Conclusion: Our study shows that 3D-STE can evaluate the LV function in patients with triple vessel coronary artery disease without myocardial infarction through multiple strain parameters.