BACKGROUND: Strain analysis derived from the analysis of speckle tracked imaging echocardiography can be used to examine ventricular contractile functions. In this study, we examined the relationship of hemodialysis (HD)-induced circulatory stress with overall ventricular function assessed according to global longitudinal strain (GLS) and segmental distribution of strain. METHODS: This prospective observational study included 104 conventional HD patients at Royal Derby Hospital. Averaged values of segmental and GLS were determined from the echocardiography of these patients before and at peak dialysis. These values were compared with the reference values of healthy individuals, correlated with their demographic characteristics, and the effect on survival was assessed. RESULTS: The global strain value was -11.5% +/- 4.42, and the segmental strain values were significantly greater in HD patients than in healthy individuals by 2.7%-9.8% (P 0.05), except within the basal lateral segment (P = 0.01). The adjusted hazard ratio for mortality was 4.3 (95% confidence interval, 1.2-14.9; P = 0.021) when > 80% of the segments exhibited more than the mean of segmental strain values. For the 46 patients who died, there were statistically significant negative correlations between survival time and GLS (r = -0.30; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Global and segmental strain measured using speckle tracked imaging provides information relating to the effects of HD-induced cardiac injury. The segmental strain abnormalities in the watershed area of the left ventricle suggest a higher degree of vulnerability to HD-induced demand ischemia. ; Huang, Shih-Han S Crowley, Lisa E Jefferies, Helen J Eldehni, Mohamad T Odudu, Aghogho McIntyre, Chris W ENG 2014/09/18 06:00 Can J Cardiol. 2014 Sep 13. pii: S0828-282X(14)00355-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2014.05.012.