Methods for estimating the risk for ventricular arrhythmias in a subject

1. A method for predicting the risk for ventricular arrhythmias, said method comprising:

selecting a subject who has previously suffered a myocardial infarction or a subject who suffers from a primary cardiomyopathy;

measuring a myocardial mechanical dispersion in said subject,

estimating a risk for ventricular arrhythmias by comparing said measured myocardial mechanical dispersion to a cut-off value, and

classifying the subject as in need of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy based on the estimated risk for ventricular arrhythmias.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical dispersion is measured on at least one of the left ventricle and the right ventricle.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical dispersion is measured on the left ventricle.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the primary cardiomyopathies are selected from the group consisting of Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC), mitochondrial myopathies, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), restrictive cardiomyopathy, inflammatory cardiomyopathy, Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy, peripartum cardiomyopathy and tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising measuring strain in a plurality of left ventricular muscle segments in said subject, and determining a measure of myocardial dispersion from said strain measurements.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising measuring the left ventricular ejection fraction in said subject.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a myocardial mechanical dispersion above 50 ms is indicative of the subject being at risk for ventricular arrhythmias, with the proviso that mechanical dispersion is calculated as standard deviation of time to maximum myocardial shortening.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a myocardial mechanical dispersion above 200 ms is indicative of the subject being at risk for ventricular arrhythmias, with the proviso that mechanical dispersion is calculated as delta contraction duration.

9. A method for evaluating whether a subject is a candidate for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy, said method comprising:

selecting a subject who has previously suffered a myocardial infarction or a subject who suffers from a non-ischemic cardiomyopathy;

measuring a myocardial mechanical dispersion in said subject,

estimating a risk for ventricular arrhythmias by comparing said measured myocardial mechanical dispersion to a cut-off value, and

classifying the subject as in need of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy based on the estimated risk for ventricular arrhythmias.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the mechanical dispersion is measured on at least one of the left ventricle and the right ventricle.

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the mechanical dispersion is measured on the left ventricle.

12. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the primary cardiomyopathies are selected from the group consisting of Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), Left ventricular non-compaction (LVNC), mitochondrial myopathies, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), restrictive cardiomyopathy, inflammatory cardiomyopathy, Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy, peripartum cardiomyopathy and tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy.

13. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising measuring the strain in a plurality of left ventricular muscle segments in said subject, and determining a measure of myocardial dispersion from said strain measurements.

14. The method according to claim 9 further comprising measuring the left ventricular ejection fraction in said subject.

15. The method according to claim 9 , wherein a myocardial mechanical dispersion above 50 ms is indicative of the subject should be further evaluated for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy, with the proviso that mechanical dispersion is calculated as standard deviation of time to maximum myocardial shortening.

16. The method according to claim 9 , wherein a myocardial mechanical dispersion above 200 ms is indicative of the subject should be further evaluated for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy, with the proviso that mechanical dispersion is calculated as delta contraction duration.

17. A method of using of an echocardiography system on a subject for determining whether the subject is a candidate for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy, comprising selecting a subject who has previously suffered a myocardial infarction MI or a subject who suffers from a primary cardiomyopathy, using said echocardiography system for a measurement of strain in a plurality of left ventricular segments of the subject, determining a measure of mechanical myocardial dispersion from the measured strains estimating a risk for ventricular arrhyhmias b comparing said measured myocardial mechanical dispersion to a cut-off value, and classifying the subject as in need of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy based on the estimated risk for ventricular arrhythmias.

18. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising using the echocardiography system to provide a comparison of the determined measure with a predefined threshold value.

19. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the echocardiography system comprises an echocardiography apparatus, a user terminal and software for determining the measure of myocardial mechanical dispersion from the measured strains.