Neurocardiac Injury Assessed by Strain Imaging Is Associated With In-Hospital Mortality in Patients With Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

This study sought to test the hypothesis that speckle tracking strain echocardiography can quantify neurocardiac injuries in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), which is associated with worse clinical outcome. SAH may be a life-threatening disease associated with variable degrees of neurocardiac injury. Strain imaging has the potential to detect subtle myocardial dysfunction which is additive to conventional measurements. A total of 255 consecutive patients were prospectively enrolled with acute SAH, who were admitted to the intensive care unit with echocardiography studies within 72 h. Left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) strains were acquired from standard apical views. Abnormal LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) and RV free-wall strain were pre-defined as