Faces of phase

Excerpt

In this issue of the Journal, Van Tosh and colleagues1 report on a novel application of ventricular dyssynchrony measured by phase analysis of regional myocardial thickening curves. They apply this technique to the detection of obstructive coronary stenosis in individual vessels and the diagnosis of multi-vessel disease in patients. The concept is intriguing and the results, somewhat surprising. Nevertheless, with this report the investigators reveal yet another “face”, namely its diagnostic value for obstructive CAD, of phase analysis which has hitherto been shown to predict response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT),2,3 ventricular arrhythmia in patients with LV systolic dysfunction,4 and prognosis in patients with CAD or heart failure.5 …