Background:
Longitudinal myocardial shortening is known to be reduced even if left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) is preserved in patients with hypertensive heart disease (HHD). However, the compensatory mechanism remains to be elucidated. Thus layer-specific longitudinal and circumferential strain as well as stress-strain relationship was observed in HHD patients.
Methods:
In 46 HHD patients with preserved EF (>50%) and 29 age-matched control subjects, global longitudinal strain (LS) and layer-specific circumferential strain (CS) were measured from the apical 4-chamber view and mid-ventricular short-axis view, respectively, by using speckle tracking echocardiography. LS was measured at innermost LV wall layer, and CS at innermost, midwall, and outermost layers. Layer-specific end-systolic circumferential wall stress (CWS) according to Mirsky’s formula and endocardial meridional wall stress (MWS) were calculated.
Results:
Systolic blood pressure (147±20 mm Hg), interventricular septal thickness (13±2 mm), and LV dimension (48±4 mm) were greater in HHD than controls, whereas EF was comparable (66±8 vs 66±5%). LS was smaller in HHD than controls (-13±3 vs -17±3%, p<0.001) in spite of reduced MWS (520±141 vs 637±164 dyn·mm
-2
, p<0.01), suggesting impaired longitudinal myocardial function in HHD. Similarly, CS was smaller in HHD than controls at outer layer (-6.8±2.2 vs -8.8±2.2%, p<0.01) and at midwall (-11.3±3.4 vs -13.9±3.2%, p<0.01) in spite of reduced CWS (outer: 238±82 vs 336±110 dyn·mm
-2
, p<0.001; mid: 360±107 vs 473±131 dyn·mm
-2
, p<0.001). In contrast, at the innermost layer, both CS (-26±5 vs -25±5%, p=0.41) and CWS (979±153 vs 992±139 dyn·mm
-2
, p=0.72) were comparable between groups. Furthermore, the difference of CS between inner and outer layers significantly correlated with relative wall thickness (r=-0.33, p<0.01). Finally, CS at inner layer significantly correlated with EF (r=-0.43, p<0.001), whereas LS did not.
Conclusions:
In patients with HHD, intrinsic myocardial shortening was impaired both longitudinally and circumferentially. Some compensatory mechanism associated with increased relative wall thickness might work to maintain subendocardial CS, resulting in preserved EF.
Reference Intervals and Percentile Curves of Echocardiographic Left Ventricular Mass, Relative Wall Thickness and Ejection Fraction in Healthy Children and Adolescents
