Spatial Extent of Postsystolic Thickening During Myocardial Ischemia: Evaluation by Velocity Vector Imaging

Abstract

Postsystolic thickening is a highly sensitive marker of myocardial ischemia. We examined an open-chest dog with acute coronary occlusion to clarify whether the newly developed velocity vector imaging (VVI) could detect the extent of postsystolic thickening without angle-dependency. During coronary occlusion, the inward motion of the endocardium caused by postsystolic thickening could be clearly demonstrated in the ischemic region using VVI.