Identifying early changes in myocardial microstructure in hypertensive heart disease.

ABSTRACT: The transition from healthy myocardium to hypertensive heart disease is characterized by a series of poorly understood changes in myocardial tissue microstructure. Incremental alterations in the orientation and integrity of myocardial fibers can be assessed using advanced ultrasonic image analysis. We used a modified algorithm to investigate left ventricular myocardial microstructure based on analysis of the reflection intensity at the myocardial-pericardial interface on B-mode echocardiographic images. We evaluated the extent to which the novel algorithm can differentiate between normal myocardium and hypertensive heart disease in humans as well as in a mouse model of afterload resistance. The algorithm significantly differentiated between individuals with uncomplicated essential hypertension (N?=?30) and healthy controls (N?=?28), even after adjusting for age and sex (P?=?0.025). There was a trend in higher relative wall thickness in hypertensive individuals compared to controls (P?=?0.08), but no difference between groups in left ventricular mass (P?=?0.98) or total wall thickness (P?=?0.37). In mice, algorithm measurements (P?=?0.026) compared with left ventricular mass (P?=?0.053) more clearly differentiated between animal groups that underwent fixed aortic banding, temporary aortic banding, or sham procedure, on echocardiography at 7 weeks after surgery. Based on sonographic signal intensity analysis, a novel imaging algorithm provides an accessible, non-invasive measure that appears to differentiate normal left ventricular microstructure from myocardium exposed to chronic afterload stress. The algorithm may represent a particularly sensitive measure of the myocardial changes that occur early in the course of disease progression.

SUBMITTER: Hiremath P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4022613 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature