OP11.04: Fetal speckle‐tracking echocardiography: a comparison between two‐dimensional and electronic spatiotemporal image correlation (e‐STIC) technique

Speckle-tracking technology has been applied to assess the ventricular deformation (two-dimensional strain) throughout the cardiac cycle. Reproducibility is still a matter of concern because the technique mostly depends on the quality of acquisition. An electronic 4D probe that allows rapid acquisition of electronic spatiotemporal image correlation volumes (e-STIC) has been recently introduced. The aim of our study was to assess the reproducibility of e-STIC acquisition in comparison of traditional two-dimensional (2D) analysis. We recruited fetuses between 20 and 40 weeks of gestation. We obtained a 2D video clip and an e-STIC volume of a four chamber view. Automated analysis detected the endocardial borders during systole and diastole. Left ventricular global strain (LV-GS) were measured by two operators. Inter-method reproducibility between 2D and e-STIC and the intraobserver agreement were assessed by means of intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The systematic differences were also computed using the paired Student's t-test. We recruited 58 women at 30 ± 4 weeks of gestational age. We found a good inter-method agreement between 2D and STIC in the evaluation of LV-GS (ICC 0.626; 95% CI 0.368 to 0.779). The inter-observer agreement for eSTIC evaluation (ICC 0.712; 95% CI 0.513 to 0.829) was good with no systematic differences. The 2D inter-observer evaluation showed a good reproducibility (ICC 0.722; 95% CI 0.531 to 0.836), but systematic differences between the two operators were present. e-STIC technology may be helpful in the global strain fetal heart evaluation, reducing the interobserver variability. Further studies are needed to assess the advantages of this approach in the assessment of fetal heart contractility, especially in cases of congenital heart defects. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.