Echocardiographic strain analysis reflects impaired ventricular function in youth with pediatric‐onset systemic lupus erythematosus

Background Strain analysis with speckle‐tracking echocardiography shows promise as a screening tool for silent myocardial dysfunction in pediatric‐onset systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE). We compared left ventricular (LV) systolic deformation (measured by strain) in children and adolescents with pSLE to controls, and assessed the relationship between strain, disease activity, and other noninvasive measures of cardiovascular health. Methods...