This collection of lectures given by recognized national and international experts in echocardiography provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview on strain imaging which has evolved from a robust research tool to a well-established clinical imaging modality in the last 5 years. Echo strain imaging has emerged as a highly useful tool in clinical practice for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of a wide variety of cardiovascular conditions. This lecture series covers a broad range of strain related topics relevant to patient care as well as cardiovascular research. The audience will learn the basic principles of strain imaging and the evolution of technique and technology behind this modality. The clinical indications and applicability of strain imaging in coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies, valvular disease, and detection of subclinical disease including cardiotoxicity related to chemotherapy patients are well presented with illustrations of specific case studies in both children and adults.
The lectures discuss current limitations and technical barriers to widespread implementation of speckle tracking in clinical practice; in particular, inter-vendor measurement variability and the lack of industry standardization. Current developments in 3D, strain, and torsion, and its future applications are also presented.