Analysis of transmural trend of myocardial integrated ultrasonic backscatter in patients with old myocardial infarction

Changes in myocardial integrated backscatter (IB) reflect myocardial viability in patients with myocardial infarction. IB may be obtained separately in the subendocardial and subepicardial layers to establish a transmural trend. The purpose of this study is to examine the possibilities that the measurement of the transmural trend in myocardial IB may provide a new estimate of transmurality of infarction in patients with old myocardial infarction. A calibrated myocardial IB and its transmural trend were measured both in the septum and posterior wall in 21 normal subjects, 24 patients with anteroseptal old myocardial infarction (13 patients with Q-wave myocardial infarction and 11 patients with non-Q-wave myocardial infarction). The transmural trend in myocardial IB was assessed by measuring the acoustic parameter separately in the right and left ventricular halves of the septum, and in the endocardial and epicardial halves of the posterior wall. The magnitude of cyclic variation of IB (a difference between minimum and maximum peaks) was lower, and calibrated myocardial IB (the maximum value of myocardial IB at end diastole calibrated with the power of Doppler signals from the blood along the same ultrasound beam) was higher in patients with anteroseptal old myocardial infarction in the septum, compared with normal subjects. Among patients with myocardial infarction, the difference in these IB parameters between the right and left ventricular halves of the septum was found only in patients with non-Q-wave myocardial infarction. The transmural trend of myocardial IB was likely to reflect the transmurality of myocardial infarction. Therefore, our data give another insight into the assessment of transmural inhomogeneity of myocardial fibrosis or viability in patients with myocardial infarction.