Cushing’s Disease: Subclinical Left Ventricular Systolic and Diastolic Dysfunction Revealed by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography and Tissue Doppler Imaging

摘要

ObjectiveNovel echocardiographic techniques, such as speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) and tissue Doppler imaging, are sensitive tools for assessing left ventricular (LV) performance. LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), assessed by STE, is a sensitive marker of myocardial systolic function. Cardiovascular complications in patients with Cushing’s disease (CD) determine a higher mortality than that in an age- and gender-matched population. Cardiac systolic dysfunction may be detected in early stages by STE. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of STE in detecting subclinical LV dysfunction in three groups of patients: CD group, arterial hypertension group (AHG), and healthy volunteers (HV).