The percent change of strain and strain rate under dobutamine stress echocardiography predicts viability following myocardial infarction.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to explore the accuracy of the dobutamine-induced percent change of myocardial deformation indices to detect viability following myocardial infarction.

Methods: We enrolled 60 consecutive patients presenting for myocardial viability assessment at least 4 weeks following ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. Strain (S) and strain rate (SR) were individually measured for all myocardial segments, both at rest and during low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography.