No abstract available.
Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/etiology/*pathology ; Endomyocardial Fibrosis/*radiography ; Gadolinium ; Heart Ventricles/*physiopathology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left/*physiopathology

BACKGROUNDImpaired exercise capacity is one of the most common clinical manifestations in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The severity of reduced exercise capacity is an indicator of disease prognosis. The aim of the current study was to investigate the association between left heart size and mass with exercise capacity.

METHODSA total of 74 patients were enrolled in the study, with 37 having congestive heart failure (left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 0.45) and the other 37 with coronary heart disease (by coronary angiography) serving as the control group (LVEF > 0.55). Echocardiography and cardiopulmonary exercise test were performed. The multiply linear regression model was used to evaluate the association between echocardiogrphic indices and exercise capacities.

RESULTSThe study showed that left ventricular end diastolic/systolic diameter (LVEDD/LVESD), left atrial diameter (LAD) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were significantly enlarged in patients with chronic heart failure compared with controls (P < 0.01). The VO(2)AT, Peak VO(2), Load AT, and Load Peak in chronic heart failure patients were also significantly reduced compared with controls (P < 0.05), VE/VCO(2) slope was increased in patients with chronic heart failure (P < 0.01). Multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that the patients' exercise capacity was significantly associated with the left heart size and mass, however, the direction and/or strength of the associations sometimes varied in chronic heart failure patients and controls. Load AT correlated negatively with LVEDD in chronic heart failure patients (P = 0.012), while Load AT correlated positively with LVEDD in control patients (P = 0.006). VE/VCO(2) slope correlated positively with LAD (B = 0.477, P < 0.0001) in chronic heart failure patients, while the VE/VCO(2) slope correlated negatively with LAD in control patients (P = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONThe study indicates that the size of LVEDD and LAD are important determinants of exercise capacity in patients with CHF, which may be helpful to identify exercise tolerance for routine monitoring of systolic heart failure.

Aged ; Cardiac Volume ; physiology ; Echocardiography ; Exercise Test ; Exercise Tolerance ; physiology ; Female ; Heart Failure ; physiopathology ; Heart Ventricles ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of papillary muscles and trabeculae on left ventricular (LV) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) analysis using three methods of cavity delineation (classic or modified inclusion methods, and the exclusion method) in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 20 consecutive HCM patients who underwent 1.5-T CMR imaging with short-axis cine stacks of the entire LV. LV measurements were performed using three different methods of manual cavity delineation of the endocardial and epicardial contours: method A, presumed endocardial boundary as seen on short-axis cine images; method B, including solely the cavity and closely adjacent trabeculae; or method C, excluding papillary muscles and trabeculae. Ascending aorta forward flow was measured as reference for LV-stroke volume (SV). Interobserver reproducibility was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients. RESULTS: Method A showed larger end-diastole and end-systole volumes (largest percentage differences of 25% and 68%, respectively, p < 0.05), compared with method C. The ejection fraction was 55.7 +/- 6.9% for method A, 68.6 +/- 8.4% for B, and 71.7 +/- 7.0% for C (p < 0.001). Mean mass was also significantly different: 164.6 +/- 47.4 g for A, 176.5 +/- 50.5 g for B, and 199.6 +/- 53.2 g for C (p < 0.001). LV-SV error was largest with method B (p < 0.001). No difference in interobserver agreement was observed (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: In HCM patients, LV measurements are strikingly different dependent on whether papillary muscles and trabeculae are included or excluded. Therefore, a consistent method of LV cavity delineation may be crucial during longitudinal follow-up to avoid misinterpretation and erroneous clinical decision-making.
Adult ; Aged ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic/*pathology ; Female ; Heart Ventricles/physiopathology/*radiography ; Humans ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Papillary Muscles/*physiopathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Stroke Volume/physiology ; Systole/physiology

OBJECTIVE: Post-contrast T1 values are closely related to the degree of myocardial extracellular space expansion. We determined the relationship between post-contrast T1 values and left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, LV remodeling, and neurohormonal activation in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-nine patients with DCM (mean age, 55 +/- 15 years; 41 males and 18 females) who underwent both 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging and echocardiography were enrolled. The post-contrast 10-minute T1 value was generated from inversion time scout images obtained using the Look-Locker inversion recovery sequence and a curve-fitting algorithm. The T1 sample volume was obtained from three interventricular septal points, and the mean T1 value was used for analysis. The N-Terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level was measured in 40 patients. RESULTS: The mean LV ejection fraction was 24 +/- 9% and the post-T1 value was 254.5 +/- 46.4 ms. The post-contrast T1 value was significantly correlated with systolic longitudinal septal velocity (s'), peak late diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus (a'), the diastolic elastance index (Ed, [E/e']/stroke volume), LV mass/volume ratio, LV end-diastolic wall stress, and LV end-systolic wall stress. In a multivariate analysis without NT-proBNP, T1 values were independently correlated with Ed (beta = -0.351, p = 0.016) and the LV mass/volume ratio (beta = 0.495, p = 0.001). When NT-proBNP was used in the analysis, NT-proBNP was independently correlated with the T1 values (beta = -0.339, p = 0.017). CONCLUSION: Post-contrast T1 is closely related to LV remodeling, diastolic function, and neurohormonal activation in patients with DCM.
Adult ; Aged ; Algorithms ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/*diagnosis/radiography ; Echocardiography ; Extracellular Space/physiology/*radiography ; Female ; Heart Ventricles/physiopathology/radiography ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Natriuretic Peptide, Brain/analysis ; Peptide Fragments/analysis ; *Ventricular Remodeling