title: Myocardial stretch in early systole is a key determinant of the synchrony of left ventricular mechanical activity in vivo.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent in-vitro observations suggest that left ventricular (LV) contraction is powered by 'stretch activation', an intrinsic mechanism by which the stretching of an activated cardiomyocyte causes delayed force redevelopment. We hypothesized that mechanical dyssynchrony is related to prolonged early systolic stretch that delays the timing of peak segmental shortening.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The time intervals from R wave to segmental longitudinal stretch in early systole (Tstretch) and peak shortening (Tpeak) and the respective standard deviations (σTstretch and σTpeak) were measured by speckle-tracking echocardiography in 57 patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The percentage of time spent in shortening, normalized to Tpeak duration [corrected ΔT=(Tpeak-Tstretch)/Tpeak] correlated with LV reverse remodeling (reduction in end-systolic volume ≥ 15%). Of the 57 patients, 40 (70.2%) demonstrated LV reverse remodeling at an average follow-up of 263 ± 125 days after CRT. At baseline, Tstretch and σTstretch correlated with Tpeak and σTpeak, respectively. Though there was no difference in Tstretch, Tpeak, σTstretch and σTpeak between responders and non-responders, corrected ΔT in the mid-lateral and mid-septal segments was shorter in the responders (P<0.05 for both) and the average of the 2 independently predicted LV reverse remodeling (area under the curve: 0.77, P=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mapping LV segmental shortening in relation to early systolic stretch may aid dyssynchrony assessment in patients undergoing CRT.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caracciolo
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goliasch
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amaki
authors.forename: Manish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.forename: Ayumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakabo
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Luka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lipar
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pedrizzetti
authors.forename: Jagat
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Narula
authors.forename: Partho P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Sengupta
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D058406:Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013599:Systole; D013997:Time Factors; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling