Impact of Pulmonary Stenosis on Right Ventricular Global Longitudinal
Strain in Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot Patients Post Transcatheter
Pulmonary Valve Replacement
Abstract
Background Mixed pulmonary disease with pulmonary regurgitation (PR) and
stenosis (PS) in repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) can negatively
impact ventricular health. Myocardial strain has been shown to be more
sensitive at detecting occult ventricular dysfunction compared to right
ventricular ejection fraction (RV EF). We hypothesize that rTOF patients
with predominant PS will have lower RV global longitudinal strain
(RVGLS) prior to and post-transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement
(TPVR). Methods A retrospective cohort of rTOF patients who underwent
cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and cardiac catheterization for right
ventricular pressure (RVSP) measurement were analyzed at three time
points: before valve implantation, at discharge and within 18 months
post-TPVR. Patients were dichotomized into three groups based on RVSP:
0-49%, 50-74%, and >75%. RVGLS and left ventricular (LV)
GLS by speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) were obtained from the
apical 4-chamber using TomTec software (TOMTEC IS, Germany). Results
Forty-eight patients were included. RV EF was not associated with a
significant change in RV or LV GLS (p=0.7). RV GLS showed the greatest
improvement immediately after valve implantation. Higher
pre-implantation RVSP was found to correlate with worse strain
(p=0.001). Overall, average RV strain magnitude was higher when
pre-implantation RVSP was less than 50% and had greater improvement
over the three time points. Higher post-implantation RVSP correlated
with lower strain magnitude. Conclusion Patients with significant PS
(>50%) may benefit from earlier PVR and not depend solely
on RV size and EF. Myocardial strain may be a more sensitive marker of
function; however, larger, prospective studies are needed.