Left atrial and ventricular impairment of asymptomatic pediatric myocarditis survivors: analysis by speckle tracking and exercise stress echocardiography.

Background: The study of mid- and long-term myocardial function in myocarditis survivors was limited, which cannot fully reflect their clinical prognosis. The present study was carried out to prospectively evaluate the left atrial (LA) and ventricular (LV) function of pediatric myocarditis survivors by speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) combined with stress echocardiography and to uncover its potential risk factors regarding myocardial impairment during follow-up. Methods: Fifteen consecutive asymptomatic pediatric myocarditis survivors and fifteen age- and sex-matched healthy controls were prospectively enrolled. LA and LV deformations at rest and after stress tests were evaluated by conventional echocardiography and STE. The cardiac function reserve reflected as the differences in systolic/diastolic indices between at rest and peak-exercise was also explored. After Shapiro-Wilk and homogeneity test, the Chi-squared test, independent-sample Results: Basic clinical data were comparable between two groups. As for the echocardiographic indices at rest, asymptomatic pediatric myocarditis survivors displayed worse resting LA function [reservoir strain (εR) (34.33±5.93 Conclusions: Regular STE-based LA functional assessment is recommended for asymptomatic pediatric myocarditis survivors to detect early myocardial impairment and probably improve risk prediction.