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Speckle Tracking Strain Echocardiography: On Its Way into the Operating Room

  • Cardiovascular Anesthesia (J Fassl, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Anesthesiology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this review is to introduce the basic concepts of strain as well as its applicability to intraoperative echocardiography.

Recent Findings

In the operating room, strain literature is in its infancy. The majority of the strain literature is based on TTE studies. Currently, there are no published guidelines on the normal values of strain with TEE. Early strain literature has shown there is correlation between TTE and TEE values. Reduction in intraoperative left ventricular strain with TEE has been shown to be an independent predictor of prolonged hospitalization, postoperative atrial fibrillation, and low cardiac output syndrome in certain cardiac surgeries. Reduction in intraoperative right ventricular strain with TEE has been shown to be associated with hemodynamic instability following cardiac surgery. Understanding the limitations of intraoperative strain analysis is important. They include high frame rates required for analysis, vendor-to-vendor variability, and the limited availability of right ventricular strain software.

Summary

The intraoperative use of strain echocardiography with TEE is growing because of its availability and ease of use. The application of intraoperative strain echocardiography in everyday practice has the potential to actively guide intraoperative clinical decision-making and risk stratify patients in the operating room, but further work needs to be done to validate early studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, 30 N 1900 E, Rm 3C-444, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA

    Michael J. Benson, Candice K. Morrissey & Natalie A. Silverton

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  1. Michael J. Benson
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  2. Candice K. Morrissey
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  3. Natalie A. Silverton
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Contributions

Michael J. Benson helped conceive the paper, contributed to literature review, wrote the manuscript, and contributed to editing the manuscript. Candice K. Morrissey helped conceive the paper, contributed to literature review, and contributed to editing the manuscript. Natalie A. Silverton conceived the paper, contributed to literature review, helped to write the manuscript, and contributed to editing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Michael J. Benson.

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Benson, M.J., Morrissey, C.K. & Silverton, N.A. Speckle Tracking Strain Echocardiography: On Its Way into the Operating Room. Curr Anesthesiol Rep 9, 242–247 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40140-019-00342-z

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