Evaluation of left ventricular function by treadmill exercise stress echocardiography combined with layer-specific strain technique in essential hypertension patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of treadmill exercise stress echocardiography (TESE) combined with left ventricular (LV) layer-specific strain (LSS) in subclinical myocardial and reserve function of hypertensive patients. A total of 55 hypertensive patients and 51 controls were evaluated during rest and exercise. Two-dimensional speckle tracking (2DST) and LSS technique was used to measure longitudinal and circumferential strains at rest and peak exercise, strain difference characteristics were then evaluated. Compared to the control subjects, both longitudinal and circumferential LSS showed different degrees of reduction in hypertensive group, which was more pronounced at peak exercise. The global longitudinal endocardium strain (GLSendo) at rest was 24.4% ± 1.5% in the control group versus 20.4% ± 2.3% in the hypertensive group, while the difference was more obvious at peak state (control vs. hypertensive group, 30.8% ± 2.8% and 22.8% ± 2.9%, respectively). In particular, endocardial strain under exercise can be used as a sensitive indicator where the LV contractile reserve (CR) function of the three layers are all impaired. TESE combined with LSS might increase diagnostic accuracy of myocardial performance in hypertension patients.