Objective      To determine the value of speckle tracking imaging (STI) in the evaluation of postoperative follow-up of the patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) after （alcohol septal ablation

ASA）.       Methods      The enrolled subjects included healthy volunteers (control group

n=30) and case group (n=19) in this study. There were 16 males and 14 females aged from 28 to 40 years old (average age 34.30±6.10) in the control group

and 8 male and 11 female HOCM patients at an age of 32 to 67 years old (average age 46.53±11.66) who hospitalized in the cardiology department from April 2012 to July 2014. The former group underwent echocardiography and STI

while the latter underwent the same ultrasonographic examination at 5 time points

including the pre-operation and in 3 d

and 1

3 and 6 months after operation. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)

left ventricular outflow tract pressure gradient (LVOTG) and interventricular septum (IVS) were measured by echocardiography. And peak systolic longitudinal strain (LS)

longitudinal strain (LSr)

radial strain (RS)

radial strain rate (RSr)

circumferential strain (CS) and circumferential strain rate (CSr) of hypertrophy and non-hypertrophy segments of left ventricle were measured by STI and Qlab Software. And then these parameters were statistically analyzed.       Results      LVOTG of HOCM at the 5 time points from the case group were significantly higher than those of control group (P0.05)

and were obviously declined after ASA (P0.05). Compared with the pre-operative value

the thickness of IVS was slightly declined in 3 d post-operatively

and remarkably decreased in 1

3 and 6 months after operation (P0.05). There was no significant difference in the LVEF at the 5 time points (P0.05). For the hypertrophic segments

all of the peak systolic strains and strain rates were obviously lower in the case group than control group (P0.05). Though no marked difference were seen in all strains and strain rates of hypertrophic segments between pre-operation and 3 d after operation (P0.05)

the parameters were significantly increased in 1

3 and 6 months post-operatively when compared with those before operation (P0.05). The strains and strain rates of hypertrophic segments were obviously lower in our whole observation period than those of non-hypertrophic segments (P0.05). Before ASA

the LS and LSr of non-hypertrophy segments were obviously lower than those of control group (P0.05)

but they were notably higher than before ASA(P0.05) and had no significant difference with normal group (P0.05).       Conclusion      STI

as a new technique

can evaluate the dynamic changes of local strain and strain rates of left ventricle

and reflect the restoration of non-hypertrophy segments’ function in the patients with HOCM after ASA. So

it might be an accurate

noninvasive and repeatable method for postoperative evaluation of ASA for HOCM.