Assessment of left ventricular function in asthmatic children using speckle tracking and tissue doppler echocardiography

Abstract

Background Acute bronchial asthma affects many organs including the cardiovascular system. Recurrent hypoxia and the production of inflammatory mediators lead to chronic inflammation, pulmonary vasoconstriction, and pulmonary hypertension, which can affect cardiac function. Aim This study aimed to assess left ventricular function in children with acute bronchial asthma using two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE), and tissue doppler imaging (TDI). Patients and methods Fourty-five children with moderate persistent asthma aged 5–16 years and 15 matched controls were enrolled in this study. In addition to pulmonary function testing with spirometry, all participants underwent cardiac evaluation using conventional echocardiography, TDI, and 2D and 3D STE. Results The asthmatic children had significantly lower left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions (P = 0.017, P < 0.001, respectively) but significantly higher myocardial performance index (MPI) (P < 0.001) than that of the control group by TDI. By using 3D STE, 3D longitudinal strain, 3D circumferential strain, 3D area strain, and 3D radial strain were significantly lower in asthmatic children than the healthy control. Conclusion Children with asthma are more likely to have left ventricular dysfunction of different severities, which can be identified early using TDI and 3D STE.