The Right Ventricular Response to High Afterload: Comparison between Healthy Persons and Patients with Transposition of the Great Arteries: A 2D Strain Study.
Objective: To evaluate the contraction pattern of the systemic right ventricle (RV) in comparison to healthy controls. Methods: 31 patients (14 female, mean age 21.5 +/- 3.3 years) with congenital corrected (ccTGA) and surgical corrected (D-TGA) TGA and 31 age-matched healthy controls (17 female, mean age 23.1 +/- 2.6 years) were included in the study. We compared the contraction pattern of the systemic RV with findings in the right and left ventricle (LV) of healthy controls. Echocardiograms were performed for all patients (19.3 +/- 2.5 years after the operation) and all healthy controls. Using a novel computer software (GE Ultrasound, Horton, Norway) that allows automatic frame-by-frame tracking of accoustic markers during the heart cycle longitudinal and circumferential strain and strain rate were defined as parameters of myocardial deformation. Results: In the systemic free RV wall, circumferential strain was greater than longitudinal strain (-25.6 +/- 4.2% vs. -15.2 +/- 3.9%, P