ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the carotid and left ventricular function changes in patients with subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) using echo-tracking (ET) and three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3D-STE).Methods Eighty patients with SA were divided into low-risk group (27 cases),middle-risk group (26 cases) and high-risk group (27 cases) according to the Framingham risk score (FRS).Each of them was examined by echocardiography and carotid ultrasound to obtain the parameters including carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT),stiffness parameter (β),Pressure-strain elastic modulus (Ep),pulse wave conducting velocity(PWVβ),LV peak systolic global longitudinal strain (GLS),LV peak systolic global circumferential strain (GCS),myocardial wall stress (MWS) and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) for analysis.The study got approval from the Ethics Committee of Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology (NO:IORG00371).Results Ep,left atrial volume (LAV) and MWS had significantly differences among the three groups (all P ＜0.05).Compared with low-risk group,cIMT,β,PWVβ were higher and GLS was lower in high-risk group (all P ＜0.05).There were no statistical difference in LVEF and GCS among the three groups (all P ＞ 0.05).β was positively correlated with age and FRS,and negatively correlated with GLS (all P ＜ 0.05).LAV was positively correlated with age and E/e (all P ＜0.05).GLS was negatively correlated with FRS and β (all P ＜ 0.05).MWS was positively correlated with β and SBP,and negatively correlated with LVEF (all P ＜0.01).Conclusions ET combined with 3D-STE could be applied to evaluate the carotid and left ventricular function accurately in patients with subclinical atherosclerosis,and provide scientific bases for establishing intervention strategy.