USEFULNESS OF SPECKLE-TRACKING ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY IN DETECTING EARLY MYOCARDIAL DYSFUNCTION AND ITS PROGNOSTIC ROLE IN YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE RECOVERED FROM COVID-19

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of global myocardial contractility using speckle-tracking echocardiography and an assessment of its prognostic value in 73 young adults with cardiac complaints that first appeared 2-6 months after recovery from a mild form of COVID-19. The control group consisted of 59 young adults not previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. All study participants, along with standard echocardiography, underwent two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE). Global left ventricular (LV) deformation in the longitudinal, circumferential and radial directions (LV GLS, GCS, GRS), regional LV deformation of the basal and apical segments, left atrial deformation in the reservoir phase (LASr), and right ventricular free wall deformation (RV FWS) were assessed. Control studies were performed after 6 and 12 months. The study found that 2D-STE was more informative than TTE in detecting preclinical myocardial damage. Among the control group of COVID-19 recovered patients, 72.6% showed a reduction in the deformability of all heart chambers, as well as impaired regional deformation of the LV basal segments. A 12-month follow-up showed that the impaired LV GLS did not disappear, and in some cases progressed to diastolic myocardial dysfunction and undesirable remodeling of the left heart (LV hypertrophy, LA enlargement).