Left ventricular strain values using 3D speckle-tracking echocardiography in healthy adults aged 20 to 72 years

Three dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3D-STE) is a novel modality for the assessment of left ventricular strain (LVS). The aim of our study is to provide single vendor normative strain values measured with 3D-STE in healthy adult caucasians. One hundred fifty-five healthy subjects aged 20 to 72 years (≥ 28 subjects per decile) were prospectively included and examined with 2D and 3D transthoracic echocardiography. In 105 both 3D and 2D-STE were feasible (71%, mean age 44 ± 14 years, 51% female). Mean 3D tangential strain (3D-TS) was − 32 ± 2.9%. 3D global longitudinal strain (3D-GLS) demonstrated a significant but not very strong correlation with 2D-GLS values (− 19.7 ± 1.8% vs − 20.4 ± 2.2%, r = 0.462, p < 0.001). No gender difference was observed in 3D strain parameters. 3D-GLS decreased with increasing age stratum (p = 0.024). LVEF was associated with 3D-TS and 3D-GLS (r = − 0.819, p ≤ 0.001 for 3D-TS, p = − 0.477, r < 0.001, p = 0.001 for 3D-GLS). In this single vendor study age and gender-specific normative LV 3D-TS values were reported for healthy adult caucasians. In a significant proportion of the subjects 3D-STE was not feasible, but when feasible, 3D-STE shows excellent association with LVEF, and is therefore a promising novel modality for the assessment of the myocardial function, provided that issues of limited feasibility and temporal resolution are addressed.