Fig. 2

Longitudinal strain curve of one LV segment, analyzed using custom-made algorithms. The pink area represents the integral of the longitudinal strain signal from the beginning of the cardiac cycle (QRS onset) to the instant of the aortic valve closure (I L,avc ). The blue-shaded area represents the integral of longitudinal strain signal from the beginning of the cardiac cycle to the instant of the corresponding longitudinal strain peak (I L,peak). All values greater than −5% were considered noise and were thus not considered in calculating integrals. t peak: time to strain peak