Comparison of regional and global cardiac MRI diastolic strain rates with echo grading of diastolic dysfunction

Background Echocardiographic examination is currently the gold standard for the non invasive assessment of diastolic dysfunction. Although strain is not load independent, studies have shown that systolic strain rates can assess myocardial contractility and are relatively load independent. It remains to be established if diastolic strain parameters correlate with the degree of diastolic dysfunction and if so which parameter correlates best with echo derived grade of diastology.