Strain Doppler echocardiography can identify longitudinal myocardial dysfunction derived from edema in acute myocarditis

Usually, during acute phase of focal myocarditis, edema is located in the epicardial layer of the ventricular wall and it can't be associated with clear evidence of wall motion abnormalities on echocardiography. Among many cardiac imaging techniques, only cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and computer tomography permit a direct detection of edema during acute myocarditis. We report a case where strain Doppler echocardiography was able to identify longitudinal segmental myocardial dysfunction derived from edema in acute phase of myocarditis. The strain Doppler echocardiography was compared with cardiac magnetic resonance. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.