Right ventricular dysfunction and tricuspid regurgitation in functional mitral regurgitation.

AIM: The objective of this study was to investigate the prognostic importance of right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) and tricuspid regurgitation (TR) in patients with moderate-severe functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) receiving MitraClip procedure. RVD and TR grade are associated with cardiovascular mortality in the general population and other cardiovascular diseases. However, there are limited data from observational studies on the prognostic significance of RVD and TR in FMR receiving MitraClip procedure. METHODS AND RESULTS: A systemic review and meta-analysis were performed using MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase to assess the prognostic value of RVD and TR grade for mortality in patients with functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) receiving MitraClip procedure. Hazard ratios were extracted from multivariate models reporting on the association of RVD and TR with mortality and described as pooled estimates with 95% confidence intervals. A total of eight non-randomized studies met the inclusion criteria with seven studies having at least 12 months follow-up with a mean follow-up of 20.9 months. Among the aforementioned studies, a total of 1112 patients (71.5% being male) were eligible for being included in our meta-analysis with an overall mortality rate of 28.4% (n = 316). Of the enrolled patients, RVD was present in 46.1% and moderate-severe TR in 29.2%. RVD was significantly associated with mortality compared to normal RV function (HR, 1.79, 95% CI, 1.39-2.31, P < 0.001, I2  = 0). Patients with moderate-severe TR showed increased risk of mortality compared with those in the none-mild TR group (HR, 1.61. 95% CI, 1.11-2.33, P = 0.01, I2  = 14). CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis demonstrates the prognostic importance of RVD and TR grade in predicting all-cause mortality in patients with significant FMR. RV function and TR parameters may therefore be useful in the risk stratification of patients with significant FMR undergoing MitraClip procedure.

Normal Ranges of Left Ventricular Strain by Three-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Establishing normal values and associated variations of three-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography- (3DSTE-) derived left ventricular (LV) strain is necessary for accurate interpretation and comparison of measurements. We aimed to perform a meta-analysis of normal ranges of LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS), global radial strain (GRS), and global area strain (GAS) measurements derived by 3DSTE and to identify confounding factors that may contribute to variance in reported measures. METHODS: The authors searched four databases, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane Library, through January 2019 using the key terms "left ventricular/left ventricle/left ventricles", "strain/deformation/speckle tracking", and "three dimensional/three-dimensional/three-dimension/three dimension/3D". Studies were included if the articles reported LV strain using 3DSTE in healthy normal subjects, either in the control group or comprising the entire study cohort. The weighted mean was estimated by using the random effects model with a 95% CI. Heterogeneity across studies was assessed using the I2 test. Effects of demographic (age), clinical, and vendor variables were assessed in a metaregression. The National Institutes of Health tools were used to assess the quality of included articles. Publication bias was examined by Begg's funnel plot and Egger's regression test. RESULTS: The search yielded 895 articles. After abstract and full-text screening we included 33 data sets with 2,346 patients for meta-analysis. The reported normal mean values of GLS among the studies varied from -15.80% to -23.40% (mean, -19.05%; 95% CI, -18.18% to -19.93%; I2 = 99.0%), GCS varied from -15.50% to -39.50% (mean, -22.42%; 95% CI, -20.96% to -23.89%, I2 = 99.7%), GRS varied from 19.81% to 86.61% (mean, 47.48%; 95% CI, 41.50%-53.46%; I2 = 99.8%), and GAS varied from -27.40% to -50.80% (mean, -35.03%; 95% CI, -33.19% to -36.87%; I2 = 99.3%). Software for strain analysis was consistently associated with variations in normal strain values (GLS: P = .016; GCS: P < .001; GRS: P < .001; GAS: P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Variations in the normal ranges across studies were significantly associated with the software used for strain analysis, emphasizing that this factor must be considered in the interpretation of strain data.