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Published on: September 17, 2013

Evaluation of cardiac functions of patients with benign joint hypermobility syndrome

Sevket Balli1, Mehmet Zafer Aydın, Vedat Gerdan

  • 1Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Balikesir Ataturk Hospital, Yıldız Mahallesi, Soma Caddesi, Balikesir, Turkey, drsevketballi@hotmail.com.

Pediatric Cardiology
|September 10, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Children with benign joint hypermobility syndrome (BJHS) show diastolic dysfunction and increased myocardial performance indices (MPIs) on echocardiography. These findings suggest BJHS may impact myocardial proteins.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Cardiology
  • Rheumatology
  • Cardiovascular Imaging

Background:

  • Benign joint hypermobility syndrome (BJHS) is a common condition affecting connective tissues.
  • Potential cardiac involvement in BJHS, particularly myocardial function, remains under-investigated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if echocardiography with tissue Doppler imaging can detect myocardial dysfunction in children with BJHS.
  • To investigate diastolic and systolic function, and myocardial performance indices in pediatric BJHS patients.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study comparing 75 children with BJHS to 70 healthy controls.
  • Detailed echocardiography including tissue Doppler imaging was performed.
  • Exclusion of congenital or acquired cardiac diseases and inherited connective tissue disorders.

Main Results:

  • Patients with BJHS exhibited prolonged deceleration time of early mitral inflow and lower mitral/tricuspid annular Ea velocities.
  • Reduced Ea, Aa, and Ea/Aa ratios were observed in various myocardial walls in BJHS patients.
  • Increased isovolumic relaxation time and elevated right-ventricular (RV) and left-ventricular (LV) myocardial performance indices (MPIs) were noted in the BJHS group.

Conclusions:

  • Echocardiography with tissue Doppler imaging reveals diastolic dysfunction in children with BJHS.
  • Elevated RV and LV MPIs suggest impaired myocardial function in BJHS.
  • BJHS may potentially affect myocardial cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix proteins, leading to cardiac changes.

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