European journal of clinical investigation, 1 1 2024, Pages e14200 Prognostic significance of echocardiographic deformation imaging in adult congenital heart disease. van Rosendael PJ, Taha K, Guglielmo M, Teske AJ, van der Harst P, Sieswerda G, Cramer MJ, van der Zwaan HB
Background
Due to medical and surgical advancements, the population of adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD) is growing. Despite successful therapy, ACHD patients face structural sequalae, placing them at increased risk for heart failure and arrhythmias. Left and right ventricular function are important predictors for adverse clinical outcomes. In acquired heart disease it has been shown that echocardiographic deformation imaging is of superior prognostic value as compared to conventional parameters as ejection fraction. However, in adult congenital heart disease, the clinical significance of deformation imaging has not been systematically assessed and remains unclear.
Methods
According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews checklist, this systematic review included studies that reported on the prognostic value of echocardiographic left and/or right ventricular strain by 2-dimensional speckle tracking for hard clinical end-points (death, heart failure hospitalization, arrhythmias) in the most frequent forms of adult congenital heart disease.
Results
In total, 19 contemporary studies were included. Current data shows that left ventricular and right ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) predict heart failure, transplantation, ventricular arrhythmias and mortality in patients with Ebstein's disease and tetralogy of Fallot, and that GLS of the systemic right ventricle predicts heart failure and mortality in patients post atrial switch operation or with a congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries.
Conclusions
Deformation imaging can potentially impact the clinical decision making in ACHD patients. Further studies are needed to establish disease-specific reference strain values and ranges of impaired strain that would indicate the need for medical or structural intervention.
