Assessment of Left Ventricular systolic Functions Using Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography in Patients with Myocardial Bridging Detected by Multidetector Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography

Background: The left anterior descending artery(LAD) is most commonly affected by the congenital coronary variation known as myocardial bridge(MB). As far as the heart is concerned, it is the myocardial-lined section of the epicardial coronary artery. Aim and objectives: To correlate the anatomical computed tomography(CT) criteria of MB and 3D strain values derived from resting and dobutamine stress echocardiography(DSE) to differentiate between significant and non-significant Myocardial bridging. Patients and methods: The study included 65 participants, all of whom visited the outpatient clinics run by the Islamic Cardiac Center at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, from January 2021 to March 2024. The study included patients after obtaining their informed permission and receiving approval from the Ethics Committee. The individuals were then split into three categories. Results: Regarding resting global area strain(GAS), no statistically significant difference(P=0.1) was seen among the investigated groups. Compared to groups II and I, there was a statistically significant rise in stress GAS in group III(-33.3±1.4) compared to -34.5±4.9 and -39 to -27, and -38±1.3 and -40 to -36, respectively. Conclusion: Functional quantification of MB by Dobutamine 3D echocardiography could be used as a reliable, noninvasive physiological assessment for patients with MB. By physiologically assessing myocardial perfusion in patients with MB, we can detect significant and non-significant MB and, hence, commence the appropriate therapy and expect the patient's prognosis.