Cardiac hypertrophy is a key pathological process of many
cardiac diseases. However, early detection of
cardiac hypertrophy is difficult by the currently used non-invasive method and new approaches are in urgent need for efficient diagnosis of cardiac malfunction. Here we report that speckle tracking-based strain analysis is more sensitive than conventional echocardiography for early detection of pathological
cardiac hypertrophy in the
isoproterenol (ISO) mouse model. Pathological
hypertrophy was induced by a single
subcutaneous injection of ISO. Physiological
cardiac hypertrophy was established by daily treadmill exercise for six weeks. Strain analysis, including radial strain (RS), radial strain rate (RSR) and longitudinal strain (LS), showed marked decrease as early as 3 days after ISO injection. Moreover, unlike the regional changes in cardiac
infarction, strain analysis revealed global cardiac dysfunction that affects the entire heart in ISO-induced
hypertrophy. In contrast, conventional echocardiography, only detected altered E/E', an index reflecting cardiac diastolic function, at 7 days after ISO injection. No change was detected on fractional shortening (FS), E/A and E'/A' at 3 days or 7 days after ISO injection. Interestingly, strain analysis revealed cardiac dysfunction only in ISO-induced pathological
hypertrophy but not the physiological
hypertrophy induced by exercise. Taken together, our study indicates that strain analysis offers a more sensitive approach for early detection of cardiac dysfunction than conventional echocardiography. Moreover, multiple strain readouts distinguish pathological
cardiac hypertrophy from physiological
hypertrophy.