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Myocardial ultrasonic backscatter in hypertension: relation to aldosterone and endothelin

Michaela Kozàkovà1, Simona Buralli, Carlo Palombo

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy.

Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)
|February 8, 2003
PubMed

Insights

In hypertensive heart disease, aldosterone and endothelin levels correlate with myocardial texture changes. Ultrasonic backscatter analysis reveals these alterations, suggesting increased collagen content in the heart.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Endocrinology

Background:

  • Hypertensive heart disease is characterized by excessive fibrillar collagen accumulation.
  • Myocardial fibrosis extent varies across hypertension models.
  • Aldosterone and endothelins are key factors in myocardial fibrosis development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between myocardial integrated backscatter (MIB) and circulating aldosterone and endothelin in human hypertension.
  • To assess if noninvasive ultrasonic backscatter analysis can reflect myocardial texture changes in hypertensive patients.

Main Methods:

  • A study involving 56 subjects: 14 healthy normotensive volunteers and 42 hypertensive patients (primary aldosteronism, renovascular hypertension, essential hypertension).
  • MIB was measured at diastole using ultrasonic backscatter signal analysis.
  • Plasma aldosterone and immunoreactive endothelin levels were measured.

Main Results:

  • MIB was significantly higher in patients with primary aldosteronism and renovascular hypertension compared to normotensive controls and essential hypertension.
  • MIB showed a direct positive correlation with plasma aldosterone levels (r=0.73) and immunoreactive endothelin levels (r=0.60) in the overall population.
  • Similar correlations were observed within the hypertensive subpopulation.

Conclusions:

  • Circulating aldosterone and immunoreactive endothelin may induce alterations in left ventricular myocardial texture in human hypertension.
  • These alterations are potentially linked to increased myocardial collagen content.
  • Noninvasive ultrasonic backscatter analysis is a promising tool for assessing myocardial texture changes in hypertension.

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