Assessment of age-related changes of myocardial contractility of the left ventricular by speckle-tracking echocardiography and determining their relationship with telomere length

Purpose: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore a profile of left ventricular (LV) strain parameters in healthy older and to examine their association with telomere length - accepted marker of cellular senescence.Methods: Echocardiography and 2-D speckle tracking analysis was performed on 303 healthy volunteers aged 23 to 91 years without history of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). LV myocardial deformations were obtained using off-line analysis program QLAB (Philips). Telomere length was measured in peripheralblood mononuclear cells by a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction method.Results: Global longitudinal LV strain was reduced in older people without CVD. Radial strain of LV, apical and basal rotation, LV systolic twist were increased (p