New concept of myocardial longitudinal strain reserve assessed by a dipyridamole infusion using 2D-strain echocardiography: the impact of diabetes and age, and the prognostic value

AIMS Although dipyridamole is a widely used pharmacological stress agent, the direct effects on myocardium are not entirely known. Diabetic cardiomyopathy can be investigated by 2D-strain echocardiography. The aim of this study was to assess myocardial functional reserve after dipyridamole infusion using speckle-tracking echocardiography. METHODS Seventy-five patients referred for dipyridamole stress myocardial perfusion gated SPECT (MPGS) were examined by echocardiography to assess a new concept of longitudinal strain reserve (LSR) and longitudinal strain rate reserve (LSRR) respectively defined by the differences of global longitudinal strain (GLS) and longitudinal strain rate between peak stress after dipyridamole and rest. Twelve patients with myocardial ischemia were excluded on the basis of MPGS as gold standard. RESULTS Mean LSR was -2.28±2.19% and was more important in the 28 (44%) diabetic patients (-3.27±1.93%; p=0.001). After multivariate analyses, only diabetes improved LSR (p=0.011) after dipyridamole infusion and was not associated with glycaemic control (p=0.21), insulin therapy (p=0.46) or duration of the disease (p=0.80). Conversely, age (p=0.002) remained associated with a decrease in LSR. LSSR was also correlated to age (p=0.005). Patients with a LSR<0% have a better survival after 15 months (log-rank p=0.0012). CONCLUSION LSR explored by 2D speckle-tracking echocardiography after dipyridamole infusion is a simple and new concept that provides new insights into the impact of diabetes and age on the myocardium with a potential prognostic value.