Assessment of Right Ventricular Function by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and visceral adiposity are crucial cardio metabolic risk factors. There is evidence of subclinical left ventricular myocardial dysfunction in individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, the effect of MetS on the right ventricle (RV) is yet unknown. By using 2D Speckle Tracking Echocardiography, we investigated the link between MetS and right ventricle function. This study was conducted on 50 MetS patients and 25 age and gender matched individuals (control group). The MetS is diagnosed when presence of ≥3 American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute criteria. All individuals had sufficient laboratory assays as well as a thorough 2D examination including tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and R. V global longitudinal strain (GLS) during the period between November 2019 and December 2020. The metabolic group had a statistically significant lower RV- GLS (-18.27±2.16 in MetS subjects vs. - 26.64±3.05 in control subjects, P<0.001), a significantly lower E/A ratio (0.95±0.12 in MetS subjects vs. 1.14±0.15 in controls, P<0.001), and a statistically significant increase in the E/Em ratio (5.66±1.03 in MetS subjects vs. 4.24±0.46 in controls, P<0.001). Other echocardiographic or functional capacity tests revealed no significant differences between the two groups. We concluded that MetS was associated with preclinical right ventricle systolic dysfunction detected by 2D-STE observed with Normal RV by TAPSE and FAC and Normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in addition to RV diastolic dysfunction.