Clinical, Morphological and Functional Aspects in Myocarditis.

"A dedicated software package for two-dimensional speckle tracking strain analysis (XStrain™, Esaote, Florence, Italy) was used to quantify both ENDO and EPI strains. Our echocardiographic imaging acquisition protocol for 2DSTE consisted in the acquisition of three consecutive cardiac cycles from non-foreshortened apical views (4, 2, and 3 chambers) obtained during breath hold. Frame-by- frame displacement of ENDO and EPI points was automatically evaluated, generating strain curves for each segment.~The tracking quality was verified for each segment, and subsequent manual adjustments were performed, when required. All data were analyzed with the aid of Fourier techniques, which ensure greater accuracy using the periodicity of the heart motion."