Left ventricular dyssynchrony measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance-feature tracking in anterior ST-elevation myocardial infarction: relationship with microvascular occlusion myocardial damage

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance-feature tracking (CMR-FT) enables quantification of myocardial deformation and may be used as an objective measure of myocardial involvement in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We sought to investigate the associations between myocardial dyssynchrony parameters and myocardium damage for STEMI. METHODS: We analyzed 65 patients (45–80 years old) with anterior STEMI after primary percutaneous coronary intervention during 3–7 days [observational (STEMI) group] and 60 healthy volunteers [normal control (NC) group]. Myocardial dyssynchrony parameters were derived, including global and regional strain, radial rebound stretch and displacement, systolic septal time delay, and circumferential stretch. RESULTS: CMR characteristics, including morphologic parameters such as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (45.3% ± 8.2%) and myocardium damage in late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) (19.4% ± 4.7% LV), were assessed in the observation group. The global radial strain (GRS) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) substantially decreased in anterior STEMI compared with the NC group (GRS: 19.4% ± 5.1% vs. 24.8% ± 4.0%, P < 0.05; GLS: −10.1% ± 1.7% vs. −13.7% ± 1.0%, P < 0.05). Among 362 infarcted segments, radial and circumferential peak strains of the infarcted zone were the lowest (14.4% ± 3.2% and −10.7% ± 1.6%, respectively). The radial peak displacement of the infarct zone significantly decreased (2.6 ± 0.4 mm) (P < 0.001) and manifested in the circumferential displacement (3.5° ± 0.7°) in the STEMI group (P < 0.01). As microvascular occlusion (MVO) was additionally present, some strain parameters were significantly impaired in LGE(+)/MVO(+) segments (radial strain [RS]: 12.2% ± 2.1%, circumferential strain [CS]: −9.6% ± 0.7%, longitudinal strain [LS]: −6.8% ± 1.0%) compared to LGE(+)/MVO(−) (RS: 14.6% ± 3.2%, CS: −10.8% ± 1.8%, LS: −9.2% ± 1.3%) (P < 0.05). When the extent of transmural myocardial infarction is greater than 75%, the parameter of the systolic septal delay (mean, 148 ms) was significantly reduced compared to fewer degrees of infarction (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: In anterior STEMI, the infarcted septum swings in a bimodal mode, and myocardial injury reduces the radial strain contractility. A more than 75% transmural degree was the septal strain-contraction reserve cut-off point.