Real-time strain rate echocardiographic imaging: temporal and spatial analysis of postsystolic compression in acutely ischemic myocardium.

Postsystolic compression (PSC) is a sensitive indicator of regional left ventricular ischemic diastolic dysfunction. Quantitative assessment of compression patterns by strain rate imaging could determine the presence and spatial extent of PSC for the detection and analysis of acute ischemic diastolic dysfunction. With the use of a segmental left ventricular model, we evaluated time to compression/expansion crossover (T-CEC) in standard apical views. Data at baseline and after acute left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion were collected from 18 open-chest pigs. We found significant mean prolongation of T-CEC, ranging from 43.9 +/- 48.6 ms to 110.8 +/- 73.8 ms, in all apical segments and in 2 midventricular (anterior and anteroseptal) segments. Analysis of variance demonstrated that the prolonged T-CEC is spatially consistent with perfusion defect. The temporal and spatial analysis of T-CEC with the use of strain rate imaging is a new noninvasive technique for identification and topographic quantitation of ischemic diastolic dysfunction expressed by PSC.