Gegenava T, Gegenava M, Beekman GMS, et al. - The present study was undertaken to investigate left ventricular (LV) systolic function in a large cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) applying standard echocardiographic assessments and global longitudinal strain (GLS) by two-dimensional speckle-tracking analysis. They further tested the correlation between echocardiographic parameters and the occurrence of cardiovascular. Researchers examined a sum of 102 patients with SLE (88% women; mean age, 43 ± 14 years) undergoing a dedicated multidisciplinary assessment. The data revealed that LV systolic function as assessed by LV GLS is significantly impaired and associated with cardiovascular events in patients with SLE, potentially representing a new tool to improve risk stratification in these patients.