title: Early right ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with systemic sclerosis without pulmonary hypertension: a Doppler Tissue and Speckle Tracking echocardiography study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Isovolumetric acceleration (IVA) is a novel tissue Doppler parameter for the assessment of systolic function. The aim of this study was to evaluate IVA as an early parameter for the detection of right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) without pulmonary hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  22 patients and 22 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects underwent standard echocardiography with tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and speckle tracking strain to assess RV function.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) (23.2 +/- 4.1 mm vs. 26.5 +/- 2.9 mm, p < 0.006), peak myocardial systolic velocity (Sm) (11.6 +/- 2.3 cm/s vs. 13.9 +/- 2.7 cm/s, p = 0.005), isovolumetric contraction velocity (IVV) (10.3 +/- 3 cm/s vs. 14.8 +/- 3 cm/s, p < 0.001) and IVA (2.3 +/- 0.4 m/s2 vs. 4.1 +/- 0.8 m/s2, p < 0.001) were significant lower in the patient group. IVA was the best parameter to predict early systolic dysfunction with an area under the curve of 0.988.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IVA is a useful tool with high-predictive power to detect early right ventricular systolic impairment in patients with SSc and without pulmonary hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Medical Clinic for Cardiology and Angiology, Charité Campus Mitte, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany. sebastian.schattke@charite.de
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schattke
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Knebel
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grohmann
authors.forename: Henryk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dreger
authors.forename: Friederike
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kmezik
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riemekasten
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: Adrian C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Borges
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000150:complications*; D013318:Stroke Volume; D013599:Systole; D018497:Ventricular Dysfunction, Right / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016278:Ventricular Function, Right