Association of myocardial deformation with outcome in asymptomatic aortic stenosis with normal ejection fraction

Abstract

Background - Current guidelines recommend intervention for symptomatic aortic stenosis, but the management of asymptomatic aortic stenosis remains controversial. As left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) has been shown to predict cardiovascular outcome, we sought to find whether its use could guide the assessment of risk in these patients. Methods and Results - We prospectively followed 79 patients with severe asymptomatic aortic stenosis (39 men; mean age, 77 ± 12 years; aortic valve [AV] area index, 0.36 cm 2/m2). In addition to standard echocardiography, speckle strain was measured to assess GLS. Patients were followed for cardiac death and AV replacement driven by symptom deve..