Echocardiographic Evaluation of Ventricular Dyssynchrony

Despite single center studies have suggested that mechanical markers of LV synchrony could predict outcome after CRT, these results have not been reproduced in the multicentric setting and indeed, failure of this markers as predictors of CRT response has been shown. This paradox underscores the limited reproducibility and variability of the currently proposed dyssynchrony analysis techniques. The echocardiographic techniques for the study of dyssynchrony will be discussed in this chapter, pointing out the evidence supporting the use of each method as well as their limitations.

Keywords: Cardiac resynchronization therapy, echocardiography, cardiac imaging technique, mechanical, dyssynchrony, M-mode echocardiography, tissue doppler imaging, strain imaging, three-dimensional echocardiography