IJCS | Volume 31, Nº6, November / December 2018

633 Figure 1 - Speckle-tracking analysis of right ventricular (RV) systolic function using the automated function imaging technique. (Top) Semi-automated delineation of endocardial borders and definition of the region of interest (ROI). Mid and lower images illustrate two-dimensional strain analysis: (middle-left) shows global longitudinal RV strain (-25.6%), (middle-right) two-dimensional strain (2DS)-time curves, (bottom-left) peak 2DS values per segment, and (bottom-right) 2DS-time parametric analysis. Felix et al. RV function by 2D strain in left-sided valve disease Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2018;31(6)630-642 Original Article Results Patients’ characteristics A total of 57 consecutive patients with severe VHD were enrolled in this study. Of these, two had severe TR and other two refused to participate, thus the final study group was comprised of 53 patients (31 women; mean age, 52,4 ± 15,9 years). Most patients were symptomatic, with 50.9% classified as New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class II and 43.4% as NYHA III (Table 1). The predominant etiology of valve diseases was rheumatic valve disease (53.6%), myxomatous valve disease (18.9%), degenerative valve disease (13.2% ) and congenital valve disease (11.3%). All patients were submitted to conventional echocardiography, RV 2DS and 3DE. Most patients were in sinus rhythm; 14 patients (26.4%) with permanent AF were not excluded because we were able to analyze all echocardiographic parameters despite the presence of arrhythmia.