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Is atrial function in Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy more impaired than in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy?

Marcia M Barbosa1, Manoel Otávio C Rocha, Fernando Antônio Botoni

  • 1ECOCENTER, Hospital Socor, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.

European Journal of Echocardiography : the Journal of the Working Group on Echocardiography of the European Society of Cardiology
|July 21, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy exhibit abnormal atrial myocardial deformation. Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy (CDC) shows similar atrial involvement compared to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC), indicating no significant difference in atrial dysfunction between the two conditions.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Cardiovascular Imaging
  • Cardiac Electrophysiology

Background:

  • Atrial function significantly contributes to overall cardiovascular performance.
  • Limited data exists on atrial function specifically within the context of dilated cardiomyopathy.
  • Distinguishing between Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy (CDC) and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) regarding atrial involvement is crucial for understanding disease progression.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To comprehensively assess atrial function in patients diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.
  • To investigate and compare the severity of atrial dysfunction in Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy (CDC) versus idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC).
  • To elucidate the role of atrial myocardial deformation in dilated cardiomyopathy.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized tissue Doppler, Doppler-based strain, and strain rate (SR) imaging to evaluate left atrial (LA) and right atrial (RA) function.
  • Measured peak atrial strain and SR during systole and diastole at key atrial locations (interatrial septum, LA inferior wall, RA lateral wall).
  • Included 72 dilated cardiomyopathy patients (36 CDC, 36 IDC) and 32 healthy controls for comparative analysis.

Main Results:

  • Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy demonstrated reduced myocardial deformation indices in both RA and LA during the reservoir phase compared to healthy controls, signifying atrial dysfunction.
  • No significant differences were observed in LA and RA deformation parameters between patients with CDC and IDC.
  • Clinical characteristics and left ventricular (LV) function parameters were comparable between the CDC and IDC groups.

Conclusions:

  • Atrial myocardial deformation properties are demonstrably abnormal in individuals with dilated cardiomyopathy.
  • Chagas dilated cardiomyopathy (CDC) does not present with a greater degree of atrial involvement compared to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC).
  • These findings underscore the presence of generalized atrial dysfunction in dilated cardiomyopathy, irrespective of its specific etiology (Chagas vs. idiopathic).
Abstract

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