Biomedicines (Apr 2023)

Strain Echocardiography in Acute COVID-19 and Post-COVID Syndrome: More than Just a Snapshot

  • Johannes Kersten,
  • Jana Schellenberg,
  • Achim Jerg,
  • Johannes Kirsten,
  • Hasema Persch,
  • Yuefei Liu,
  • Jürgen M. Steinacker

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11041236
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 4
p. 1236

Abstract

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Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) has become an established, widely available diagnostic method in the past few years, making its value clear in cases of COVID-19 and the further course of the disease, including post-COVID syndrome. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many studies have been published on the use of STE in this condition, enabling, on the one hand, a better understanding of myocardial involvement in COVID-19 and, on the other, a better identification of risk to patients, although some questions remain unanswered in regard to specific pathomechanisms, especially in post-COVID patients. This review takes a closer look at current findings and potential future developments by summarising the extant data on the use of STE, with a focus on left and right ventricular longitudinal strain.

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