Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 19, 2026
Noninvasive Assessment of Cardiac Abnormalities in Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis by Magnetic Resonance Microscopy Imaging in the Mouse
Published on: June 20, 2014
Association of early left ventricular dysfunction with advanced magnetic resonance white matter and gray matter brain
Anderson C Armstrong1,2, Majon Muller3, Bharath Ambale-Venkatesh1
1Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Insights
Early cardiac dysfunction and brain abnormalities are linked in middle-aged individuals. These subclinical issues, including aortic root size and deformation, correlate with white matter integrity and cerebral blood flow, even without reduced ejection fraction.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Neurology
- Radiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Clinical stroke is linked to heart failure, but early heart-brain abnormalities are not fully understood.
- Subclinical brain abnormalities and early cardiac dysfunction associations require further investigation in healthy populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the relationship between subclinical brain abnormalities and early cardiac dysfunction.
- To investigate these associations in a large, healthy, middle-aged, biracial cohort.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 719 participants of the CARDIA study (aged 18-30 at baseline) with echocardiograms and brain MRI at year 25.
- Assessed cardiac parameters (aortic root diameter, LVEF, deformation) and cerebral measures (white matter fractional anisotropy, gray matter cerebral blood flow).
- Employed linear regression, adjusting for relevant covariates, to analyze associations between cardiac and cerebral metrics.
Main Results:
- Worse circumferential deformation and larger aortic root diameter were associated with reduced white matter fractional anisotropy.
- Poorer radial systolic deformation correlated with lower gray matter cerebral blood flow.
- Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) showed no significant association with early brain abnormalities.
Conclusions:
- Early subclinical cardiac dysfunction and brain abnormalities coexist and are associated in middle-aged, generally healthy individuals.
- These findings highlight the interconnectedness of cardiac and brain health, even before clinical manifestation of disease.
Introduction:
Relations between heart failure and clinically manifested stroke are well known, but the associations between heart and brain early abnormalities are not totally clear.
Aims:
We explore relations of subclinical brain abnormalities with early cardiac dysfunction in a large healthy middle-aged biracial cohort.
Methods:
The CARDIA study enrolled 5115 young adults aged 18-30 years at baseline (1985-1986). We assessed 719 Caucasian and African American participants of the CARDIA study, with echocardiograms and brain MRI at follow-up year 25 (2010-2011). Echocardiography assessed aortic root diameter; LVEF; circumferential, longitudinal, and radial deformation. Cerebral MRI DTI, and, on a subset, ASL perfusion sequences were used to assess white matter fractional anisotropy and gray matter cerebral blood flow (CBF). Linear regression explored relations between cardiac parameters and cerebral measures, adjusting for anthropometrics, risk factors, and brain constitutional variation.
Results:
Mean age 50 ± 4 years, SBP 118 ± 15 mm Hg; 60% white, and 48% men. Mean CBF was 46 ± 9 mL/100 g/min, and white matter fractional anisotropy was 0.31 ± 0.02. Worse circumferential deformation and larger aortic root were related to worse white matter fractional anisotropy. Worse radial systolic deformation was related to worse CBF in multivariable models. LVEF did not relate to early brain abnormalities.
Conclusions:
In spite of no apparent effect of LV ejection fraction, early subclinical cardiac dysfunction and brain abnormalities are present and associated in middle-aged generally healthy individuals.
More Related Videos
08:10Estimating Bilateral Atrial Function by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Feature Tracking in Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Published on: July 20, 2022
11:13Quantification of Mouse Heart Left Ventricular Function, Myocardial Strain, and Hemodynamic Forces by Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: May 24, 2021
Related Concept Videos
01:22Aortic Regurgitation II: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Tests
01:29Cardiomyopathy III: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
01:30Cardiomyopathy II: Dilated Cardiomyopathy
01:21Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System IV: CMRI
01:29Cardiomyopathy IV: Restrictive Cardiomyopathy
01:23Mitral Stenosis II: Clinical features and Diagnostic Tests