title: Noninvasive Evaluation of Myocardial Systolic Dysfunction in the Early Stage of Kawasaki Disease: A Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evaluation of myocardial function by speckle-tracking echocardiography is a new method for the early diagnosis of systolic dysfunction.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to determine myocardial speckle-tracking echocardiography indices in Kawasaki Disease (KD) patients and compare them with the same indices in control subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-two patients (65.5% males) with KD and 19 control subjects with normal echocardiography participated in this study. After their demographic characteristics and clinical findings were recorded, all the participants underwent transthoracic echocardiography. Strain (S), Strain Rate (SR), Time to Peak Strain (TPS), and Strain Rate (TPSR), longitudinal velocity and view point velocity images in the two, three, and four-chamber views were semi-automatically obtained via speckle-tracking echocardiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the patients, Twenty-four cases (75%) were younger than 4 years. Mean global S and SR was significantly reduced in the KD patients compared to controls (17.03 ± 1.28 vs. 20.22 ± 2.14% and 1.66 ± 0.16 vs. 1.97 ± 0.25 1/second, respectively), while there were no significant differences regarding mean TPS, TPSR, longitudinal velocity and view point velocity. Using repeated measure of analysis of variances, we observed that S and SR decreased from base to apical level in both groups. The change in the pattern of age adjusted mean S and SR across levels was significantly different between the groups (P < 0.001 for both parameters).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed changes in S and SR assessed in KD patients versus control subjects in the acute phase of KD. However, we suggest that further studies be undertaken to compare S and SR in the acute phase and thereafter in KD patients.
authors.affiliation: Children's Medical Center, Pediatric Center of Excellence, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad-Nasir
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Hematian
authors.affiliation: Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torabi
authors.affiliation: Children's Medical Center, Pediatric Center of Excellence, Tehran, IR Iran ; Department of Pediatrics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Elaheh
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: MalaKan-Rad
authors.affiliation: Children's Medical Center, Pediatric Center of Excellence, Tehran, IR Iran ; Department of Pediatrics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Keyhan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sayadpour-Zanjani
authors.affiliation: Children's Medical Center, Pediatric Center of Excellence, Tehran, IR Iran ; Rheumatology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ziaee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lotfi-Tolkaldany
keywords: Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome; Myocardial Systolic Dysfunction; Myocardial Velocity; Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography; Strain Rate Imaging; Ventricular Function, Left