Concentric hypertensive left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is presumed to be a symmetrical process. Using MRI-derived intramyocardial strain, we sought to determine whether segmental deformation was also symmetrical, as suggested by echocardiography. High echocardiographic LV relative wall thickness in hypertensive LV hypertrophy allows preserved endocardial excursion despite depressed LV midwal...

OBJECTIVE Asynchronous electrical activation of the left ventricle (LV), induced by ventricular pacing (VP), reduces mechanical load in early- and enhances it in late-activated regions. Consequently, chronic VP leads to asymmetric hypertrophy. We investigated whether such locally induced myocardial hypertrophy also occurs in the presence of pressure overload hypertrophy (POH). METHODS POH was...

BACKGROUND Regression of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy with normalization of diastolic function has been reported in patients with aortic stenosis late after aortic valve replacement (AVR). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of AVR on LV function and structure in chronic aortic regurgitation early and late after AVR. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-six patients were in...

OBJECTIVES Our aim was to evaluate the impact of metabolic syndrome (MetS) on cardiac phenotype in adolescents. BACKGROUND A high prevalence of MetS has been reported in adolescents. METHODS Four hundred forty-six nondiabetic American Indian adolescents (age 14 to 20 years, 238 girls) underwent clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and Doppler echocardiography. Age- and gender-specific p...

Echocardiograms were obtained on 27 adults with electrocardiographic criteria of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) to determine how echocardiograms might best identify LVH. Both the left ventricular (LV) posterior wall thickness and interventricular septal thickness were found by echocardiography to be increased (greater than or equal to 12 mm) in only 13 of 27 patients (48%) with LVH. The LV ...

In large mammals there is a correlation between microtubule network densification and contractile dysfunction in severe pressure-overload hypertrophy. In small mammals there is a similar correlation for the shift to beta-myosin heavy chain (MHC), a MHC isoform having a slower ATPase Vmax. In this study, murine left ventricular (LV) pressure overload invoked both mechanisms: microtubule network ...

BACKGROUND Cardiac mass and volumes are often elevated in athletes, but it is not known whether moderate physical activity is also associated with cardiac dilatation and hypertrophy in a healthy adult population. METHODS AND RESULTS In total, 1096 adults (54% female, median age 39 years) without cardiovascular disease or cardiomyopathy-associated genetic variants underwent cardiac magnetic re...

Objective To investigate the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and different patterns of left ventricular (LV) geometry and their risk factors in untreated hypertension population in China. Methods A total of 9,286 participants (5167 males and 4119 females) were recruited from two Chinese communities. The LV geometry was classified into four patterns: normal; abnormal,defined as ...

I n patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the low positive predictive accuracy of the previously recognised risk factor for sudden death—that is, non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, syncope, abnormal blood pressure response to exercise, family history of sudden death, and massive left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy—is a major limitation. Patients with a combination of two or more su...

OBJECTIVES Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of heart failure and affects the activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). We have now investigated the role of MMPs and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) in the transition from compensated left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy to heart failure as well as the effects of pravastatin on this transition in a rat model. METHODS Dahl salt...