{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:53:56Z","timestamp":1785405236967,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776124800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100014677","name":"George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of T\u00e2rgu-Mure\u0219","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["795\/6\/22.01.2025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["795\/6\/22.01.2025"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100014677","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["795\/6\/22.01.2025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["795\/6\/22.01.2025"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03gwbzf29","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Neonatal Ebstein\u2019s anomaly (EA) is a severe condition with significant hemodynamic instability and early myocardial dysfunction, where abnormal right-heart geometry limits conventional echocardiography and highlights the value of myocardial deformation imaging. Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective observational study including 16 neonates with EA and 26 healthy neonates. All subjects underwent comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography during the neonatal period. Conventional two-dimensional imaging and speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) were used to assess biventricular and biatrial myocardial deformation. Deformation parameters were compared between groups, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis evaluated diagnostic performance. Results: Neonates with EA demonstrated significant structural remodeling and severe biventricular and biatrial dysfunction compared with controls. Speckle-tracking showed markedly reduced right ventricular longitudinal strain (LS) in all segments (all, p &lt; 0.001), particularly in free-wall and four-chamber views. Left ventricular (LV) global LS (GLS) was significantly reduced in neonates with EA compared with controls (\u221214.53% vs. \u221222.32%, p &lt; 0.001), indicating early involvement of LV myocardial function in the neonatal period. Atrial reservoir, conduit, and contractile strain were severely impaired in both atria (all, p &lt; 0.001). ROC analysis revealed excellent diagnostic accuracy, especially for LVGLS (AUC 0.919) and right atrial contractile strain (AUC 0.958). Conclusions: STE enables the early detection of extensive biventricular and biatrial myocardial dysfunction in neonatal EA, including abnormalities not fully captured by conventional echocardiographic parameters, thereby providing significant incremental diagnostic value.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life16040670","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]],"date-time":"2026-04-14T14:24:58Z","timestamp":1776176698000},"page":"670","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Advanced Echocardiographic Characterization of Neonatal Ebstein\u2019s Anomaly Using Myocardial Deformation Imaging: A Single-Center Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1970-4393","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carmen Corina","family":"\u0218uteu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, \u201cGeorge Emil Palade\u201d University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases and Transplantation, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u015f, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicola","family":"\u015euteu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, \u201cGeorge Emil Palade\u201d University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liliana","family":"Gozar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, \u201cGeorge Emil Palade\u201d University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases and Transplantation, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u015f, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2119-1726","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oana Cristina","family":"Marginean","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics I, \u201cGeorge Emil Palade\u201d University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u015f, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4321-6229","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreea","family":"Cerghit-Paler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, Faculty of Medicine English, \u201cGeorge Emil Palade\u201d University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u015f, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8156-7460","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Oana","family":"S\u0103s\u0103ran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, Faculty of Medicine English, \u201cGeorge Emil Palade\u201d University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u015f, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-1087-0119","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Camelia","family":"R\u00e2tea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Moldova & ProNutrition Center, Doctoral School, \u201cNicolae Testemitanu\u201d State University of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Republic of Moldova, MD-2004 Chi\u015fin\u0103u, Moldova"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5548-3319","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amalia","family":"F\u0103g\u0103r\u0103\u015fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics III, \u201cGeorge Emil Palade\u201d University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases and Transplantation, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u015f, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1007\/s12055-020-00942-z","article-title":"Ebstein\u2019s anomaly in the neonate","volume":"37","author":"Kumar","year":"2021","journal-title":"Indian J. 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