Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Jan;20(1):45-53.
doi: 10.1016/j.echo.2006.07.007.

Assessment of left ventricular rotation and torsion with two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography

Hyung-Kwan Kim  1 , Dae-Won Sohn, Sang-Eun Lee, Su-Yeon Choi, Jin-Shik Park, Yong-Jin Kim, Byung-Hee Oh, Young-Bae Park, Yun-Shik Choi
Affiliations

Assessment of left ventricular rotation and torsion with two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography

Hyung-Kwan Kim et al. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2007 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) has a unique feature of angle independence and, thus, may provide a powerful means of assessing left ventricular (LV) torsion (LVtor). The aims of this study were to assess: (1) the feasibility of 2-dimensional STE in the measurement of LVtor; and (2) the relationship of LVtor with age and conventional echocardiographic parameters.

Methods: We consecutively recruited 160 healthy volunteers. After obtaining conventional echocardiographic parameters, apical and basal short-axis rotations were assessed with STE. LVtor was defined as the net difference between rotation angles in the two short-axis planes normalized for LV longitudinal length.

Results: Reliable LVtor measurement was possible only in 56 volunteers (35%). This low feasibility was largely a result of the failure to obtain reliable basal rotation values. In 56 volunteers who were finally enrolled in this study, a significant correlation was found between LV ejection fraction and LVtor (r = 0.56, P < .001) and this correlation was attributed to apical (r = 0.47, P < .001) but not basal (P = .14) rotation. There was no significant change in LVtor with aging. However, initial counterclockwise motion (r = -0.51, P = .001) and its interval (r = -0.44, P = .001) in the basal rotation gradually decreased with aging, and correlated with early transmitral inflow velocity (r = 0.44 and 0.49, respectively) and its deceleration time (r = -0.43 and -0.48, respectively) (all P < .001). In contrast, such correlations were not found for initial clockwise motion and its interval in the apical rotation.

Conclusions: Currently, STE has limited feasibility in the measurement of LVtor. There was no significant age-related change in LVtor. In LV rotations, basal rotation was affected by the age-related changes in the LV early diastolic filling, whereas apical rotation was mainly related to LV systolic performance.

PubMed Disclaimer