Myocardial stretch post-atrial contraction in healthy volunteers and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients

Mihai Strachinaru, Marcel L. Geleijnse, Nico de Jong, Annemien van den Bosch, Michelle Michels, Arend F. L. Schinkel, Antonius F. W. van der Steen, Johan G. Bosch, Hendrik J. Vos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In cardiac high-frame-rate color tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), a wave-like pattern travels over the interventricular septum (IVS) after atrial contraction. The propagation velocity of this myocardial stretch post-atrial contraction (MSPa) was proposed as a measure of left ventricular stiffness. The aim of our study was to investigate the MSPa in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) compared with healthy volunteers. Forty-two healthy volunteers and 33 HCM patients underwent high-frame-rate (>500 Hz) TDI apical echocardiography. MSPa was visible in TDI, M-mode and speckle tracking. When assuming a wave propagating with constant velocity, MSPa in healthy volunteers (1.6 ± 0.3 m/s) did not differ from that in HCM patients (1.8 ± 0.8 m/s, p = 0.14). Yet, in 42% of patients with HCM, the MSPa had a non-constant velocity over the wall: in the basal IVS, the velocity was lower (1.4 ± 0.5 m/s), and in the mid-IVS, much higher (6.1 ± 3.4 m/s, p < 0.0001), and this effect was related to the septal thickness. The reason is hypothesized to be the reaching of maximal longitudinal myocardial distension in HCM patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1987-1998
Number of pages12
JournalUltrasound in Medicine and Biology
Volume45
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Atrial contraction
  • High-frame-rate tissue Doppler
  • Myocardial stretch
  • Stiffness

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