Because conventional echocardiographic parameters have several limitations, strainechocardiography has often been introduced in clinical practice. However, there are also obstacles in using it in clinical practice. Therefore, we wanted to find the current status of awareness on using strainechocardiography in Korea.
We gathered total 321 questionnaires from 25 cardiology centers in Korea. All participants were able to perform or interpret echocardiographic examinations. All participating institutions performed strainechocardiography. Most of our study participants (97%) were aware of speckle tracking echocardiography and 185 (58%) performed it for clinical and research purposes. Two-dimensional strainechocardiography was the most commonly used modality and left ventricle (LV) was the most commonly used cardiac chamber (99%) for clinical purposes. Most of the participants (89%) did not think LV strain can replace LV ejection fraction (LVEF) in their clinical practice. The common reasons for not performing routine use of strainechocardiography was diversity of strain measurements and lack of normal reference value. Many participants had a favorable view of the future of strainechocardiography.