Value of Autostrain LV in the study of left ventricular systolic function and synchronization in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract Background There are relatively few studies investigating cardiac structural and functional abnormalities associated with systemic lupus erythematous (SLE). The long‐term prognosis of SLE patients is closely related to the cardiovascular events caused by SLE. Accordingly, it is necessary to assess early myocardial systolic function and synchrony. Methods Overall, 90 patients with SLE were randomly selected from our outpatient and inpatient clinics and divided according to SLE Disease Activity Index (SLE‐DAI‐2000) scores: group A, stable (scores 0–4); group B, mildly active stage (scores 5–9); and group C, moderately active stage (scores ≥10). Each group included 30 patients. Further, 30 sex‐ and age‐matched healthy individuals who were referred for check‐ups at the same period were selected as controls (group D). The minimum age for entry into the group was 17 years old. Autostrain LV and three‐dimensional quantitative analysis (3DQA) were applied to obtain left ventricular systolic function parameters, information on strain parameters, and correlations between parameters. Simultaneity parameters measured by Autostrain LV and 3DQA were tested for reproducibility. Results A two‐by‐two comparison of groups A–C showed that as the disease activity score increased, AP4LS%, AP2LS%, AP3LS%, and the LV mean overall longitudinal strain all gradually decreased, while LV longitudinal strain peak time standard deviation (Tls‐SD) gradually increased, with all differences being statistically significant ( p < .05). In groups A–C compared with controls, Tmsv‐17‐SD, Tmsv‐17‐Dif, Tmsv‐17‐SD%, and Tmsv‐17‐Dif% were all significantly prolonged ( p < .05). Further, Tls‐SD was positively correlated with Tmsv‐17‐SD and Tmsv‐17‐Dif, and there was good agreement between Autostrain and 3DQA for the measurement of left ventricular synchrony indexes, with Tmsv‐17‐Dif having the best repeatability (intraobserver interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = .979; interobserver ICC = .848, p < .01). Conclusion Autostrain LV can accurately detect changes in left ventricular myocardial strain in patients with SLE early in the disease, with simple operation. The 3DQA technique can quantitatively evaluate left ventricular systolic synchronization in patients with SLE, and Autostrain LV synchronization index measurements correlate significantly with 3DQA. Both methods are reproducible, but 3DQA is more sensitive to left ventricular synchronous motion changes.