Assessment of left ventricular contractile functions in inflammatory bowel disease according to disease activity

Objectives The study aimed to investigate the subclinical involvement of cardiac functions in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) according to their disease activity status by two‐dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE). Methods This prospective study included 72 consecutive patients with IBD and 93 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls (HC). All participants underwent conventional and 2DSTE assessments. The IBD patients were subdivided into active disease and remission groups for further investigation of the effect of disease activity on left ventricular (LV) contractile functions. Results The longitudinal strain values differed significantly between the IBD group and the control group (global longitudinal strain [GLS] from two‐chamber view: [−15.74 ± 6.33]% vs [−18.8 ± 2.87]%, P = 0.001; GLS from four‐chamber view: [−16.61 ± 9.91]% vs [−20.12 ± 2.57]%, P = 0.008; GLS: [−15.47 ± 6.87]% vs [−19.48 ± 2.16]%, P = 0.0001). The circumferential strain measurements showed a nonsignificant trend of depressed contractile functions in the IBD group. Patients with active IBD had similar GLS and global circumferential strain (GCS) values as those in remission. A correlation analysis revealed that the neutrophil‐lymphocyte ratio was positively correlated and the platelet count was negatively correlated with GCS. Deterioration of LV diastolic functions examined with E/e' and mitral deceleration time was found in the IBD group compared with the controls. Conclusions LV global longitudinal contractile and diastolic functions were decreased in patients with IBD. Clinicians should maintain patients’ remission periods and prevent flare‐ups. Assesment of left venticular contractile functions in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) according to disease activity. Patients with IBD have decreased cardiac contractile and diastolic functions independently of their disease status. This could be explained with irreversible effect of prolonged inflammatory exposure and remittent activation periods of IBD on cardiac function in adults. More aggresive suppression therapies might be needed from the begining of the IBD to protect cardiac fundtions from undesired effect of inflammation.