Assessment of the right ventricle using speckle-tracking and global longitudinal strain in patients recovered from COVID-19 infection

Abstract

Background: COVID-19, triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, was shown to have a profound effect on cardiac function. However, the long-term implications of myocardial damage in individuals who have recovered from the infection are not yet fully understood.
Aim: This study aimed to identify the early changes in right ventricular (RV) function three months after recovery from COVID-19 using Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE) and Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS).
Methods: This study was designed as a cross-sectional descriptive analysis and included 104 patients who had recovered from COVID-19 pneumonia during a three-month timeframe. The participants have been categorized into two groups based on the severity of their illness: mild cases and moderate/severe cases.
Results: The demographic characteristics of the two groups broadly were similar with no statistically significant differences. The average age of the participants was 48.8 ± 10.7 years, with males representing 55.8% of the study population. The average body mass index (BMI) was 23.6 ± 0.71 kg/m2. Furthermore, 45% of the participants had diabetes, and 34% were diagnosed with hypertension. Significant statistical differences were observed in right ventricular function parameters between the moderate/severe group and the mild group. The moderate/severe group showed a marked early reduction in both RV-GLS and RV-FWLS compared to the mild group. However, no early impairment was detected in right ventricular longitudinal function as measured by TAPSE.
Conclusion: Speckle-tracking echocardiography proved to be a valuable tool for early detection of abnormalities that are not easily identified by conventional echocardiography, particularly in assessing strain on the right ventricle.