Myocardial Deformation Imaging Based on Ultrasonic Pixel Tracking to Identify Reversible Myocardial Dysfunction

Myocardial Deformation Imaging Based on Ultrasonic Pixel Tracking to Identify Reversible Myocardial Dysfunction Michael Becker, Alexandra Lenzen, Christina Ocklenburg, Katharina Stempel, Harald Kühl, Miria Neizel, Markus Katoh, Rafael Kramann, Joachim Wildberger, Malte Kelm, Rainer Hoffmann In 53 patients with ischemic left ventricular dysfunction, myocardial viability was assessed using pixel-tracking–derived myocardial deformation imaging and contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (ceMRI) to predict recovery of function after revascularization at 9 ± 2 months follow-up. Of 463 segments with abnormal baseline function, 227 showed regional recovery. Peak systolic radial strain analysis allowed prediction of segmental functional recovery with high accuracy (sensitivity 70.2%, specificity 85.1%, area under the curve [AUC] 0.859, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.825 to 0.893). The predictive value was similar to that of hyperenhancement by ceMRI (sensitivity 71.6%, specificity 92.1%, AUC 0.874, 95% CI 0.840 to 0.901, at a cutoff of 43% hyperenhancement).