With the extensive application of quantitative analysis techniques of echocardiography, the analysis of subtle myocardial deformation such as postsystolic shortening (PSS) and early systolic lengthening (ESL) has been realized.Higher diagnostic accuracy of myocardial ischemia can be provided by assessment of PSS and ESL，which have more advantages than conventional parameters in some aspects.In addition，PSS and ESL are also useful parameters for the evaluation of cardiac function of non-ischemic heart diseases.PSS and ESL and their applications in heart diseases were reviewed in this article.