Normal Range of Left Ventricular 2-Dimensional Strain: Japanese Ultrasound Speckle Tracking of the Left Ventricle (JUSTICE) Study

Background: To determine the normal range of left ventricular (LV) 2- dimensional (2-D) strain and vendor-specific differences, a multicenter prospective 2-D strain study endorsed by the Japanese Society of Echocardiography was conducted. Methods and Results: 2-D speckle tracking analysis was performed on 817 healthy subjects (age range, 0–88 years); the images included 3 LV short axis and 3 apical views using an ultrasound system from 1 of the 3 different vendors (V1, n=333; V2, n=330; V3, n=337). With the 2-D speckle tracking software from each vendor, radial, circumferential and longitudinal strain were measured using an 18-segment model. Inter-vendor variability was also assessed in a subset of subjects. The feasibility for 2-D strain measurements was different among the 3 vendors (V1, 83%; V2, 70%; V3, 88%, P