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Left Heart Dysfunction in Acromegaly Revealed by Novel Echocardiographic Methods
Beata Uziȩbło-Życzkowska1, Agnieszka Jurek1, Przemysław Witek2,3
1Department of Cardiology and Internal Diseases, Military Institute of Medicine, Warsaw, Poland.
Frontiers in Endocrinology
|July 17, 2020
Summary
Speckle-tracking echocardiography detects subclinical left heart dysfunction in acromegaly patients. This advanced imaging reveals impaired left ventricular and left atrial function, even with controlled blood pressure, highlighting cardiovascular risks in acromegaly.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Endocrinology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Acromegaly, a rare disease, increases mortality risk, primarily from vascular causes.
- Identifying cardiovascular risk in acromegaly patients is challenging.
- Speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) offers sensitive assessment of myocardial contractility and cardiac function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the diagnostic utility of STE in detecting left ventricular (LV) and left atrial (LA) functional impairment in acromegaly patients.
- To compare cardiac function in acromegaly patients versus a control group without the disease.
Main Methods:
- Echocardiographic assessment of LV and LA function using STE in 60 subjects (30 acromegaly patients, 30 matched controls).
- Subjects were matched for age, gender, blood pressure, and hypertension history.
Main Results:
- Acromegaly patients exhibited higher left ventricular mass and increased LV hypertrophy compared to controls.
- Impaired LV systolic function was observed in acromegaly patients, evidenced by reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS).
- Acromegaly patients showed greater LA dimensions and indexed volume, with impaired STE-derived LA function parameters.
Conclusions:
- Acromegaly is associated with subclinical left ventricular hypertrophy and impaired mechanical function of the LV and LA, detectable by STE.
- These cardiac impairments can occur even in young acromegaly patients with controlled blood pressure.
- Further research is needed to establish the prognostic significance of STE findings in acromegaly.
Keywords:
acromegalyleft atrial strainleft ventricular strainpituitary diseasespeckle tracking echocardiographyMore Related Videos
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