Echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular systolic function

Abstract

Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) is the most validated and commonly used echocardiographic measure of systolic function. LVEF has a unique position in cardiology having severed as selection criteria for therapeutic trials that constitute the evidence base of today’s treatment recommendations. Assessment of LV systolic function by global longitudinal strain (GLS) from speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a sensitive and feasible method that overcomes many of the limitations of LVEF, including reproducibility issues of serial testing and detection of LV dysfunction in pathologically remodeled hearts. This review discusses the role of STE as a complementary method to LVEF in estimation of LV systolic function.