title: Speckle-Tracking-Based Evaluation of Vascular Strain at Different Sites of the Arterial Tree in Healthy Adults.
abstract: Purpose:Vascular ultrasound (US) allows the analysis of vascular strain by speckle-tracking. This study sought to assess the extent to which vas cular strain varies between different segments of the arterial tree. Furthermore, this study aimed to investigate the reproducibility of vascular strain determination as well as of the components that contribute to the variance of vascular strain measurements in different vascular beds.Materials and Methods:Speckle-tracking was used to determine the vascular strain of the abdominal aorta (AA), the common carotid artery (CCA), the common femoral (CFA) and the popliteal artery (PA) of healthy adults. Intra- and interday reproducibility and the components of variance of vascular strain of the respective arteries were determined.Results:A total of 589 US clips obtained in 10 healthy adults (7 males, 28.3 ± 3.2 years) were analyzable. Vascular strain was 7.2 ± 3.0 % in the AA, 5.7 ± 2.1 % in the CCA, 2.1 ± 1.1 % in the CFA and 1.9 ± 1.1 % in the PA. The intraday coefficients of variation of vascular strain were 6.2 % (AA), 3.9 % (CCA), 3.3 % (CFA) and 6.1 % (PA), and the interday coefficients of variation were 5.9 % (AA), 8.4 % (CCA), 10 % (CFA) and 4.6 % (PA). The variance of vascular strain mainly depended on the investigated vessel and subject. Individual DUS clips, the day of examination and the (right/left) body side (in paired arteries) had no impact on the variance of vascular strain.Conclusion:Vascular strain substantially varies between different sites of the arterial tree. Speckle-tracking by DUS allows the reliable determination of vascular strain at different arterial sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Division of Angiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Charwat-Resl
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Division of Cardiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Niessner
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Division of Angiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Division of Cardiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Bartko
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Division of Angiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Giurgea
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zehetmayer
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Division of Angiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Willfort-Ehringer
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Division of Angiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koppensteiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine II, Division of Angiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schlager
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011150:Popliteal Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012016:Reference Values; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex; D059289:Vascular Stiffness / Q000502:physiology*; D014664:Vasodilation / Q000502:physiology