Atrial Fibrillatory Wall Motion and Degree of Atrial Remodeling in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: A Tissue Velocity Imaging Study

Introduction: Myocardial longitudinal tissue velocity imaging (TVI) and strain rate imaging (SRI) indices may have a role in the prediction of significant proximal stenosis of left anterior descending (LAD) by echocardiography. Materials And Methods: Total 20 patients with proximal LAD stenosis >70% by angiography and ejection fraction ≥50%, without wall motion abnormality at resting echo (stenotic group) and 20 angiographically normal coronaries subjects with normal echocardiography (non-stenotic group) were included in the study. SRI and TVI were performed in nine segments of the LAD territory at rest. Parameters of interest included: peak systolic strain (ST, %), strain rate (SR, Second-1), and peak systolic velocity (Sm, cm/s). Results: Overal mean ST and SR showed a significant reduction in the stenotic group compared to non-stenotic group (P<0.001), while the mean Sm had no significant difference. A segment-by-segment comparison revealed a reduction of ST in 4/9 (two apical and two anteroseptal) and SR in 5/9 (three apical, septal, and anteroseptal midportion) in the stenotic group (P<0.05). Both ST and SR showed a significant reduction in three segments: anterior-apical, lateral-apical, and anteroseptal-midportion. When both ST and SR decreased in one segment, specificity and sensitivity for the diagnosis of proximal LAD stenosis was more than 80% and 55%, respectively, by Roc analysis. Conclusion: There is an overall reduction in the mean ST and SR in the segments of LAD territory with significant proximal stenosis and normal wall motion at rest and an acceptable specificity and sensitivity of SRI for the detection of stenosis in these segments.

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Messung der myokardialen Geschwindigkeit mittels Gewebe-Doppler beim gesunden Hund

Tierärztliche Praxis Ausgabe K Kleintiere / Heimtiere ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1623565 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 39 (02) ◽

pp. 69-78 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

M. Killich ◽

K. Hartmann ◽

G. Wess

Keyword(s):

Klinische Relevanz ◽

Tissue Velocity ◽

Velocity Imaging

Zusammenfassung Ziele der Studie waren die Evaluierung der myokardialen Gewebegeschwindigkeit mittels Gewebe-Doppler (Tissue Velocity Imaging, TVI) hinsichtlich der Reproduzierbarkeit sowie die Erstellung von Referenzwerten für die systolische und diastolische longitudinale Myokardbewegung. Weiterhin wurde der Einfluss von Geschlecht, Herzfrequenz, Alter, Gewicht und Rasse untersucht. Material und Methoden: Das Probandenkollektiv umfasste 199 gesunde Hunde. Systolische und diastolische longitudinale TVI wurden mittels Farb-Gewebe-Doppler im linksapikalen Vierkammerblick für rechte freie Wand, Septum und linke freie Wand einzeln aufgezeichnet und ausgewertet. Ergebnisse: Die Variationskoeffizienten für die Intrareader-Variabilität lagen alle unter 10%. Die Variationskoeffizienten für die Interreader-Variabilität unterschritten 12,4%. Das TVI wies eine heterogene Verteilung im Myokard mit einem apikobasalen Geschwindigkeitsgradienten für systolische und diastolische Parameter auf. Es zeigte keine Abhängigkeit vom Geschlecht. Dagegen beeinflussten Herzfrequenz, Alter, Gewicht und Rasse das TVI signifikant. Schlussfolgerung und klinische Relevanz: Das TVI stellt eine Technik mit guter Reproduzierbarkeit dar. Nachteil des Verfahrens ist die Abhängigkeit von Herzfrequenz, Alter, Gewicht und Rasse der Hunde. Die Studie belegt, dass das TVI beim Hund als neue Methode in der Echokardiographie eingesetzt werden kann. Diese Arbeit stellt eine Grundlage für weitere Studien auf dem Gebiet der Gewebe-Dopplertechnik dar und liefert für den klinischen Einsatz Referenzwerte für Hunde verschiedener Gewichtsgruppen.

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Biomarkers of Atrial Fibrillation in Hypertension

Current Medicinal Chemistry ◽

10.2174/0929867324666171006155516 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 26 (5) ◽

pp. 888-897 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Costas Tsioufis ◽

Dimitris Konstantinidis ◽

Ilias Nikolakopoulos ◽

Evi Vemmou ◽

Theodoros Kalos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

P Wave ◽

Diagnostic Tools ◽

Atrial Remodeling ◽

Hypertensive Patients ◽

Risk Patients ◽

Underlying Mechanisms ◽

Prompt Diagnosis ◽

The Ideal

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequently encountered cardiac arrhythmia globally and substantially increases the risk for thromboembolic disease. Albeit, 20% of all cases of AF remain undiagnosed. On the other hand, hypertension amplifies the risk for both AF occurrences through hemodynamic and non-hemodynamic mechanisms and cerebrovascular ischemia. Under this prism, prompt diagnosis of undetected AF in hypertensive patients is of pivotal importance. Method: We conducted a review of the literature for studies with biomarkers that could be used in AF diagnosis as well as in predicting the transition of paroxysmal AF to sustained AF, especially in hypertensive patients. Results: Potential biomarkers for AF can be broadly categorized into electrophysiological, morphological and molecular markers that reflect the underlying mechanisms of adverse atrial remodeling. We focused on P-wave duration and dispersion as electrophysiological markers, and left atrial (LA) and LA appendage size, atrial fibrosis, left ventricular hypertrophy and aortic stiffness as structural biomarkers, respectively. The heterogeneous group of molecular biomarkers of AF encompasses products of the neurohormonal cascade, including NT-pro BNP, BNP, MR-pro ANP, polymorphisms of the ACE and convertases such as corin and furin. In addition, soluble biomarkers of inflammation (i.e. CRP, IL-6) and fibrosis (i.e. TGF-1 and matrix metalloproteinases) were assessed for predicting AF. Conclusion: The reviewed individual biomarkers might be a valuable addition to current diagnostic tools but the ideal candidate is expected to combine multiple indices of atrial remodeling in order to effectively detect both AF and adverse characteristics of high risk patients with hypertension.

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