Left ventricular twist during dobutamine stress echocardiography after acute myocardial infarction: Association with reverse remodeling

Left ventricular (LV) twist is emerging as a marker of global LV contractility after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study aimed to describe stress-induced changes in LV twist during dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) after AMI and investigate their association with LV reverse remodeling at 6 months followup. In 82 consecutive first AMI patients (61 ± 12 years, 85% male) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention, DSE was performed at 3 months follow-up. Two-dimensional speckle-tracking-derived apical and basal rotation and LV twist were calculated at rest, low- and peak-dose stages. LV reverse remodeling was defined as ≥10% decrease in LV end-systolic volume between baseline and 6 months follow-up. Patterns of LV twist response on DSE consisted of either a progressive increase throughout each stage (n = 18), an increase at either low- or peak-dose (n = 53) or no significant increase (n = 11). LV reverse remodeling occurred in 28 (34%) patients, who showed significantly higher peak-dose LV twist (8.51° vs. 6.69°, p = 0.03) and more frequently progressive LV twist increase from rest to peak-dose (39 vs. 13%, p < 0.01) compared to patients without reverse remodeling. Furthermore, increase in LV twist from rest to peak-dose was the only independent predictor of LV reverse remodeling at 6 months follow-up (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.5, p = 0.005). Both the pattern of progressive increase in LV twist and the stress-induced increment in LV twist on DSE are significantly associated with LV reverse remodeling at 6 month follow-up after AMI, suggesting its potential use as a novel marker of contractile reserve.