Impact of Systolic and Diastolic Deformation Indexes Assessed by Strain-Encoded Imaging to Predict Persistent Severe Myocardial Dysfunction in Patients After Acute Myocardial Infarction at Follow-Up

Objectives This study evaluated the value of systolic and diastolic deformation indexes determined by strain-encoded imaging to predict persistent severe dysfunction at follow-up in patients after reperfused acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in comparison with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). Background Animal studies suggest that regional diastolic function provides information about myocardial viability after AMI. However, data in humans are sparse. Methods Twenty-six patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging 3 ± 1 days after successfully reperfused ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and at a follow-up of 6 months. Cine, strain-encoded, and LGE images were acquired. Peak systolic circumferential strain (Ecc ) and early diastolic strain rate (Ecc /s) were calculated for each segment at baseline and at follow-up. A cutoff Ecc value of −9% was used to define severe dysfunction at follow-up. Results A total of 312 segments were analyzed; 119 segments showed abnormal baseline function. Thirty-five segments showed severe dysfunction at follow-up, which was defined as Ecc at follow-up