Objective To evaluate left ventricular systolic synchrony in patients with Ⅲ grade atrio-ventricular block(Ⅲ grade AVB) after pacemaker implantation by real-time three-dimensional echocardiography. Methods Methods Twelve patients with Ⅲ grade AVB implanted by VVI pacemaker, seven patients with Ⅲ grade AVB implanted by DDD pacemaker, twenty subjects with normal LV function were examined by Philips iE33 with a X3-1 probe. Results The minimal excursion in patients with Ⅲ grade AVB implanted by VVI pacemaker and DDD pacemaker was less than that in subjects with normal LV function (P <0.05) ,and two "bull eyes" displayed that some regional systolic timing delayed or ahead, but also some regional systolic excursion hypokinesis or dykinesis. Parameter index [including Tmsv 16-SD, Tmsv 12-SD, Tmsv 6-SD, Tmsv 16-Dif, Tmsv 12-Dif, Tmsv 6-Dif, Tmsv 16-SD (%), Tmsv 12-SD (%), Tmsv 6-SD (%), Tmsv 16-Dif (%), Tmsv 12-Dif (%), Tmsv 6-Dif(%)] of 17 segment time to minimal systolic volume in patients with Ⅲ grade AVB implanted by VVI pacemaker and DDD pacemaker was more than that in subjects with normal LV function (all P < 0.05). Conclusions Real-time three-dimensional echocardiography can rapidly evaluate left ventricular systolic synchrony in patients with Ⅲ grade AVB implanted by DDD pacemaker and VVI pacemaker.

Objective To evaluate peak rotation in the endocardium(endo)and epicardium(epi)and peak mural torsion in patients with anterior wall acute myocardial infarction(AMI)before and after revascularization by speckle tracking imaging(STI).Methods The study comprised 20 normal controls and 21 consecutive xpatients with a first-episode anterior wall AMI with stenosis of the left anterior descending artery.All patients underwent Successful percutaneous coronary intervention within 12h onset of AMI.During one month, two patients were ruled OUt because one died of heart failure and the other suffered from persistent atrial fibrillation.Conventional echocardiography and STI were performed in normal controls and AMI patients before and one month after revascularization.Results In the left ventricle(LV)apical and basal level,peak endo-and epi-rotation and peak mural torsion in AMI patients were significantly reduced relative to those of normal control group(all P<0.01).One month after revascularization,there were significant changes in these three variables,especially in peak endorotation(P<0.01).Peak apical endo-rotation positively correlated with LV ejection fraction(LVEF)(r=0.717,P<0.01)and inversely correlated with LV end-diastolic volume(EDV)(r=-0.694,P<0.05).However,tight relations were not found among other variables at the two planes.Conclusions Peak endo-and epi-rotation and peak mural torsion can make the sensitive assessment of abnormal myocardial contractile performancein AMI patients using STI.

Objective To assess whether echocardiographic parameters of M-mode,pulsed-wave Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging which were usually used for selecting cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) candidates could predict CRT responders.Methods Twenty-nine patients with NYHA class Ⅲ or Ⅳ heart failure,left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)≤35%,QRS≥130 ms were enrolled.All of them underwent biventricular pacemaker implantation.The septal-to-posterior wall motion delay(SPWMD) from M-mode recording,and the standard deviation of time to peak systolic velocity(Ts-SD) were used to evaluate intraventricular dyssynchrony.The interventricular mechanical delay (IVMD) by pulsed Doppler echocardiography was calculated by subtracting the right ventricular preejection intervals (RV-PEI:the onset of the QRS on the electrocardiogram to the onset of pulmonary outflow) from the left ventricular preejection intervals (LV-PEI:the onset of the QRS on the electrocardiogram to the onset of aortic outflow).At least 15 % reduction in left ventricular end-systolic volume(LVESV) at the 6-month after CRT was defined as responder.Results In the 29 patients,there were 20 (68.97%) responders.The area under the receiver operating curve(ROC) of SPWMD,Ts-SD,LV-PEI,RV-PEI and IVMD to predict CRT responders was 0.448 (95% CI 0.184-0.712,P＞0.05),0.557 (95% CI 0.317-0.798,P＞0.05),0.479 (95% CI 0.186-0.773,P＞0.05),0.568 (95 % CI 0.272-0.863,P＞0.05) and 0.411 (95% CI0.136-0.687,P＞0.05),respectively.Conclusions M-mode echocardiography,pulsed Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging failed to predict CRT responders.New echocardiographic techniques including threedimensional echocardiography and speckle tracking image will be investigated,and may improve the predictive power.

Objective To investigate the value of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography timing-excursion parametric index and 17 segment volume curves index in patients with restrictive cardiomyopathy.Methods Eight patients with restrictive cardiomyopathy (proven by biopsy),twenty eight subjects with normal left ventricular(LV) function were examined by Philips iE33 with X3-1 probe.Results Parameter index of the SD and maximum difference of Tmsv of 16 segments,12 segments,and 6 basal segments(Tmax 16SD,Tmsv-12SD Tmsv -6SD,Tmsv-16Dif,Tmsv-12 Dif,Tmsv-6Dif,Tmsv 16-SD%,Tmsv 12-SD%,Tmsv 6-SD%,Tmsv 16-Dif%,Tmsv 12-Dif%,Tmsv 6-Dif%) was significantly higher in patients with restrictive cardiomyopathy than that in subjects with normal LV function(all P＜0.001).Average and maximum value and minimum of excursion was significantly lower in patients with restrictive cardiomyopathy than that in subjects with normal LV function(P＜0.001,P＜0.005,P＜0.005).And parameter index of 17 segment volume curves index showed higher sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value for diagnose restrictive cardiomyopathy.Conclusions Real-time threedimensional echocardiography can evaluate and diagnose restrictive cardiomyopathy fastly.

Objective To explore the value of real-time three-dimensional echocardiography(RT-3DE)in patients with aortic valve plasty.Methods Eleven patients[6 male,5 female,mean age(26.27±8.19)years]with severe aortic regurgitation underwent echocardiographic examination using Philips Sonos 7500 and IE33 with a X4 probe.Results The diameters of aortic valvular annulus,aortic root,sinotubular j unction and ascending aortic were measured by RT-3DE and compared with those measured directly in operation,their correlation was r= 0.99,P＜0.05;r=0.98,P＜0.05;r=0.97,P＜0.05 and r=0.98,P＜0.05.RT-3DE and color RT-3DE could display aortic leaflet motion and the severity of aortic regurgitation clearly.They were also effective in analyse of the position,size and shape of a ventricular septal defect(VSD).Conclusions RT-3DE and color RT-3DE provides good insight into aortic valvular motion and the severity of aortic regurgitation,and allows to measure the diameter of aortic valvular annulus,aortic root,sinotubular junction and ascending aortic rapidly and accurately.

Objective To evaluate cardiac function after transplanting autologus monouclear bone marrow cells(MBMCs) in patients with myocardial infarction by echocardiography and Doppler tissue imaging. Methods Six male patients with myocardial infarction who need coronary artery bypass procedure were prospectively studied. Before cell transplantation and in the follow-up, echocardiography and Doppler tissue imaging was performed to observe the regional and global cardiac function of the patients, including infarction wall thickness(IWT), infarction wall movement velocity(IWMV),left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVDd), left ventricular end-systolic diameter(LVDs),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), left ventricular shorting fraction(LVFS), ischemic mitral regurgitation. ~ 99m Tc-MIBI SPECT examination included immediate and prolonged image scors. Results After transplanting autologus MBMCs,IWT was increased compared with that before cell transplantation(P

ObjectiveTo assess left ventricular (LV) twist in Beagle dogs with rapid-pacing induced heart failure by 3-dimensional speckle tracking imaging.MethodsSeventeen adult beagle dogs underwent rapid right ventricular pacing (RVP) to induce heart failure.Right ventricles were paced at 260 beats/min for 3 weeks.Apical full-volume acquisition of the LV was obtained in conscious animals at baseline and the end of 3-week rapid pacing.Peak LV apical rotation(AP-Prot) and basal rotation (MV-Prot) accompanied with peak twist (Ptw) and torsion were automatically calculated by TomTec 4D LV Analysis 3.0 software.The relation between LV twist and QRS duration was further studied.Results After 3 weeks of rapid ventricular pacing,AP-Prot,MV-Prot,Ptw decreased significantly [At-Prot:(13.96 ± 2.00) ° vs (5.85 ± 0.58)°；MV-Prot:(3.34± 0.38)° vs (2.13 ± 0.44)°； Ptw:(16.31 ± 2.01)° vs (7.08 ± 1.16)°,all P ＜0.05].Dogs with heart failure were divided into two groups according to the QRS duration:pQRSd group with QRS≥100 ms and nQRSd group with QRS＜100 ms.No significant difference was found in AP-Prot and MV-Prot between two groups ( P ＞0.05).In the pQRSd group,the peak of apical rotation occurred earlier than the peak of basal rotation [(162.89 ± 14.33) ms vs (91.43 ± 15.45) ms,P ＜0.05],which might resulted in further worsening of peak LV twist [pQRSd:(6.02 ± 0.74)° vs nQRSd:(7.91 ± 0.53)°,P ＜0.05].Conclusions LV twist dynamics was a good indicator of LV systolic function and had the potential to evaluate LV systolic dyssynchrony.

Objective To quantitatively evaluate the difference in global longitudinal strain(GLS)and global circumferential strain (GCS)of three-layers of cardium between diabetes mellitus (DM)patients using layer-specific speckle-tracking imaging.Methods Fifty-seven DM patients and sixty matched controls were enrolled in the study.GLS and GCS of three-layer cardium were assessed using layer-specific speckle-tracking imaging,available by GE Vivid E9 and EchoPac workstation.Results GLS of three-layer cardium in DM patients were significantly lower than those in normal controls (all P <0.05).GCS of endo-and mid-cardium were significantly lower in DM patients than in normal controls (P < 0.05 ).There was no statistical difference of GCS of epi-cardium between the two groups (P > 0.05 ).GLS and GCS of three-layer cardium was highest in endo-cardium and lowest in epi-cardium.Conclusions GLS of three-layer cardium may be a sensitive indicator of early left ventricular systolic dysfunction in DM patients with normal ejection fraction.

Objective To evaluate the left ventricular(LV)torsion in patients with permanent pacemaker implantation by speckle tracking imaging(STI).Methods Twenty-two patients with permanent pacemaker implantation were enrolled.Eleven of them had the pacing electrodes placed in the right ventricular(RV)apex(RVA group)and the others had the pacing electrodes placed in the RV outflow tract (RVOT group).Thirteen healthy subjects were studied as controls.The basal and apical shortaxis views of the left ventricle were acquired and analyzed using EchoPAC 7.0 station.Results ①The curves of LV torsion in the pacing groups were generally lower than those in the control group and notched.The torsion parameters of RVA group and RVOT group were all less than those of control group(Ptw:12.57±4.19°vs 12.43±5.46°vs 18.98±5.73°,all P＜0.05),but there were no significant differences between RVA group and RVOT group.The time of torsion was not changed in the pacing groups because there were no significant differences among the three groups.②The values of Ptw-a(peak twist of the apex)were gradually declined among control group,RVA group and RVOT group.There was statistical difference in Ptw-a between RVOT group and control group(7.40±4.27°vs 12.70±6.82°,P=0.0364).③The basal Tp-SD(standard deviation of times to peak twist)of RVOT group was significantly longer than that of control group[14.1(7.97～22.70)%vs 4.87(3.03～7.79)%,P=0.0298].And total Tp-SD of RVA group was significantly longer than that of control group[(7.6±6.5)%vs 2.26(1.62～3.51)%,P=0.0423].④The curves of torsion velocity in the pacing groups were obviously disorganized compared with control group.But there were no statistical differences in Ptv(peak twist velocity),Putv(peak untwisting velocity),Tptv(time to peak twist velocity)and Tutv(time to peak untwisting velocity)among the three groups.Conclusions The RV pacing tends to impair torsional synehrony of LV and depress LV torsion,though it doesn't change the timing of LV torsion.It may impair LV systolic and diastolic function.

ObjectiveTo evaluate left ventricular (LV) function and dyssynchrony in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and complete left bundle branch block (CLBBB) by three-dimensional speckle tracking imaging(3D STI).Methods3D STI was performed and analyzed using TomTec 4-D LV analysis 3.0 software in 37 DCM patients with CLBBB and 25 healthy volunteers.The global 3D,longitudinal,circumferential,radial strains were measured.LV dyssynchrony was evaluated by the standard deviation of time to peak from 3D strain of 16 segments related to the heart cycle(3D-SDI).ResultsIn control group,uniformity in the average value of 3D strain was observed between apical,mid-ventricular and basal levels (P ＞ 0.05).Global 3D,longitudinal,radial and circumferential strains had excellent correlations with LV ejection fraction ( r =- 0.92,- 0.84,- 0.78 and 0.81,respectively,P ＜0.01).Compared with control group,global 3D,longitudinal,radial and circumferential strains were significantly lower in DCM patients ( P ＜0.01 for all).3D-SDI in DCM patients with CLBBB was significantly longer than that of volunteers ( P ＜0.01).3D-SDI increased with worsening LV systolic function regardless of QRS duration (P ＜0.05).ConclusionsWhen image quality is optimal,3D STI represents a promising novel technique for assessment of global LV function and dyssynchrony.