Abstract
Speckle tracking echocardiography tracks the motion of a small area within the cardiac muscle. It is a useful clinical tool to simultaneously assess the local and global functions, as well as the cardiac synchrony or dyssynchrony. It has overcome the issue of angle dependency, a limitation of tissue Doppler imaging. When using a modern echo machine with this function, echocardiographers capable of acquiring clear images of the apical 4-chamber and short axis views can easily begin using speckle tracking echocardiography. The following three steps are required to obtain analysis results : 1) clear recordings of a B-mode motion video with electrocardiography; 2) selection of the type of analysis; and 3) specifying the region of the interest. However, not many pediatric cardiologists perform speckle tracking echocardiography, partly because it is percieved as complicated. This review will summarize the important basic knowledge and limitations needed to start using Speckle tracking echocardiography.
