title: Echocardiographic measures associated with early postsurgical myocardial dysfunction in pediatric patients with mitral valve regurgitation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic function using conventional echocardiographic measures is problematic in the setting of mitral regurgitation (MR) given that altered loading conditions can mask underlying ventricular dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to characterize LV function and deformation before and after effective mitral valve repair or replacement to determine echocardiographic measures associated with early postoperative myocardial dysfunction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Baseline LV function was assessed retrospectively by conventional echocardiography and speckle-tracking strain analysis pre- and postoperatively in patients diagnosed with MR between January 2000 and March 2013, excluding patients with less than mild to moderate MR preoperatively, left-sided obstructive lesions, large septal defects, or more than mild MR postoperatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-six pediatric patients were evaluated (average age, 8.2 ± 6.4 years). Thirteen patients had normal preoperative ejection fractions but significant postoperative dysfunction (defined as an ejection fraction < 50%). Compared with the 33 patients with normal postoperative function, age (11.5 ± 7.1 vs 7.3 ± 5.7 years, P = .04), global circumferential strain (-13.2 ± 5.6% vs -17.1 ± 4.6%, P = .02), and global circumferential strain rate (-0.94 ± 0.40 vs -1.36 ± 0.42 sec(-1), P = .004) were found to be statistically different. Using receiver operating characteristic curves, an older preoperative age (area under the curve, 0.67; P = .03), lower global circumferential strain magnitude (area under the curve, 0.74; P = .007), and lower global circumferential strain rate magnitude (area under the curve, 0.80; P = .0004) were determined to be factors associated with early postoperative LV dysfunction after surgical repair of MR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Strain measurements may be useful as part of the echocardiographic assessment of patients with MR and can guide timing for surgical repair in the pediatric population.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California. Electronic address: alisa.arunamata@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Alisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arunamata
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
authors.forename: Elif Seda
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Selamet Tierney
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
authors.forename: Theresa A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Tacy
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Punn
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D058386:Mitral Valve Annuloplasty / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013318:Stroke Volume; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Mitral valve regurgitation; Myocardial dysfunction; Pediatric mitral valve surgery; Speckle-tracking strain