The aim of the present study was to serially track how myocardial infarction (MI) impacts regional myocardial strain and mechanical properties of the left ventricle (LV) in a large animal model. Post-MI remodeling has distinct regional effects throughout the LV myocardium. Regional quantification of LV biomechanical behavior could help explain changes in global function and thus advance clinical assessment of post-MI remodeling. The present study is based on a porcine MI model to characterize LV biomechanics over 28 days post-MI via speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE). Regional myocardial strain and strain rate were recorded in the circumferential, radial, and longitudinal directions at baseline and at 3, 14, and 28 days post-MI. Regional myocardial wall stress was calculated using standard echocardiographic metrics of geometry and Doppler-derived hemodynamic measurements. Regional diastolic myocardial stiffness was calculated from the resultant stress-strain relations. Peak strain and phasic strain rates were nonuniformly reduced throughout the myocardium post-MI, whereas time to peak strain was increased to a similar degree in the MI region and border zone by 28 days post-MI. Elevations in diastolic myocardial stiffness in the MI region plateaued at 14 days post-MI, after which a significant reduction in MI regional stiffness in the longitudinal direction occurred between 14 and 28 days post-MI. Post-MI biomechanical changes in the LV myocardium were initially limited to the MI region but nonuniformly extended into the neighboring border zone and remote myocardium over 28 days post-MI. STE enabled quantification of regional and temporal differences in myocardial strain and diastolic stiffness, underscoring the potential of this technique for clinical assessment of post-MI remodeling. NEW & NOTEWORTHY For the first time, speckle-tracking echocardiography was used to serially track regional biomechanical behavior and mechanical properties postmyocardial infarction (post-MI). We found that changes initially confined to the MI region extended throughout the myocardium in a nonuniform fashion over 28 days post-MI. Speckle-tracking echocardiography-based evaluation of regional changes in left ventricular biomechanics could advance both clinical assessment of left ventricular remodeling and therapeutic strategies that target aberrant biomechanical behavior post-MI.
Keywords: myocardial infarction; myocardial remodeling; myocardial stiffness; speckle-tracking echocardiography.