Abstract
Aim: To evaluate systolic and diastolic cardiac function in children who had cardiomyopathy
induced by ectopic atrial tachycardia (EAT).
Methods: Twenty-two pediatric patients who had cardiomyopathy induced by EAT and
25 age-matched controls were recruited in this case-control study. The patients were
examined after rhythm control and normalization of their left ventricular systolic function.
Different echocardiographic modalities including tissueDoppler imaging and twodimension
speckle tracking echocardiography were utilized to assess the ventricular
and atrial function.
Results: The patients’ median age was 51 months (interquartile range: 28.5–84
months). The median time interval required for normalization of left ventricular
ejection fraction (EF) among patients was 1.5 months (interquartile range: 1.5–2.12
months). Compared to controls, patients had a significantly highermedian left ventricularmyocardial
performance index (MPI) at the interventricular septum (0.44 vs. 0.38,
p = .001) and left ventricular lateral wall (0.46 vs. 0.32, p = .0001). The median right
ventricular MPI of the patients’ group was significantly higher when compared to the
control group (0.34 vs. 0.26, p = .0001). The median right atrial (RA) reservoir function
in patients was significantly reduced compared to controls (30% vs. 36.63%, p = .007).
Conclusions: Shortly after rhythm normalization and restoration of left ventricular EF,
using tissue Doppler imaging and two-dimension speckle tracking echocardiography,
children who had cardiomyopathy induced by EAT continue to have left ventricular
diastolic dysfunction, right ventricular dysfunction, and reduced RAreservoir function.