Cardiac Morphology (cardiac + morphology)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Cardiac morphology in relation to amoebic gill disease history in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L.

JOURNAL OF FISH DISEASES, Issue 4 2002
M D Powell
Fish from cages with histories of heavy and light amoebic gill disease (AGD) outbreaks were harvested and the morphology, histology and activities of lactate dehydrogenase determined. Although fish with a history of heavy AGD were smaller, their heart somatic indices were similar to those of fish with a history of light AGD. However, morphometrically the ratios of ventricle axis length and width and axis length and height were significantly higher, and there was an overall thickening of the muscularis compactum in the ventricle of fish with heavy AGD history. There was no difference in the lactate dehydrogenase activity of the ventricle muscle in the two fish groups. These results suggest that the change in ventricle shape associated with AGD was a possible compensation for an increased afterload where the lengthening of the ventricle was compensated for by an increase in muscle thickness, but without any overall ventricular hypertrophy or gain in ventricular mass. This suggests that AGD may be associated with cardiovascular compromise in affected fish. [source]


Effects of combined inhibition of the Na+,H+ exchanger and angiotensin-converting enzyme in rats with congestive heart failure after myocardial infarction

BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 5 2005
Hartmut Ruetten
We investigated the single vs the combined long-term inhibition of Na+,H+ exchanger-1 (NHE-1) and ACE in rats with congestive heart failure induced by myocardial infarction (MI). Rats with MI were randomized to receive either placebo, cariporide (3000 p.p.m. via chow), ramipril (1 mg kg,1 day,1via drinking water) or their combination for 18 weeks starting on day 3 after surgery. Cardiac morphology and function was assessed by echocardiography and by means of a 2.0 F conductance catheter to determine left ventricular (LV) pressure volume relationships. MI for 18 weeks resulted in an increase in LV end-diastolic diameter (LVDed) in the placebo-treated group when compared to sham (placebo: 1.1±0.04 cm; sham: 0.86±0.01; P<0.05). Combined inhibition of NHE-1 and ACE, but not the monotherapies, significantly reduced LVDed (1.02±0.02 cm). Preload recruitable stroke work (PRSW), dp/dtmax (parameter of systolic function) and end-diastolic pressure volume relationship (EDPVR, diastolic function) were significantly impaired in placebo-treated MI group (PRSW: 39±7 mmHg; dp/dtmax: 5185±363 mmHg s,1; EDPVR: 0.042±0.001 mmHg ,l,1; all P<0.05). Cariporide treatment significantly improved PRSW (64±7 mmHg), dp/dtmax (8077±525 mmHg s,1) and EDPVR (0.026±0.014 mmHg ,l,1), and reduced cardiac hypertrophy in rats with MI. Combined inhibition of NHE-1 and ACE had even a more pronounced effect on PRSW (72±5 mmHg) and EDPVR (0.026±0.014 mmHg ,l,1), as well as cardiac hypertrophy that, however, did not reach statistical significance compared to cariporide treatment alone. The NHE-1 inhibitor cariporide significantly improved LV remodeling and function in rats with congestive heart failure induced by MI. The effect of cariporide was comparable or tended to be stronger (e.g. systolic function) compared to ramipril. Combined treatment with cariporide and ramipril tended to be more effective on LV remodeling in rats with heart failure than the single treatments. Thus, inhibition of the NHE-1 may be a promising novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of congestive heart failure. British Journal of Pharmacology (2005) 146, 723,731. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706381 [source]


Cardiac troponin T Arg92Trp mutation and progression from hypertrophic to dilated cardiomyopathy

CLINICAL CARDIOLOGY, Issue 5 2001
Noboru Fujino M.D.
Abstract Background: Mutations in the cardiac troponin T gene causing familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are associated with a very poor prognosis but only mild hypertrophy. To date, the serial morphologic changes in patients with HCM linked to cardiac troponin T gene mutations have not been reported. Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to determine the long-term course of patients with familial HCM caused by the cardiac troponin T gene mutation, Arg92Trp. Results: The Arg92Trp missense mutation was present in 10 individuals from two unrelated pedigrees. They exhibited different cardiac morphologies: three had dilated cardiomyopathy-like features, five had asymmetric septal hypertrophy with normal left ventricular systolic function, one had electrocardiographic abnormalities without hypertrophy, and one had the disease-causing mutation but did not fulfill the clinical criteria for the disease. The mean maximum wall thickness was 14.1 ± 6.0 mm. The three patients with dilated cardiomyopathy-like features had progressive left ventricular dilation. Three individuals underwent right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy. There was a modest degree of myocardial hypertrophy (myocyte diameter: 18.9 ± 5.2 m,m), and minimal myocardial disarray and mild fibrosis were noted. Conclusion: The Arg92Trp substitution in the cardiac troponin T gene shows a high degree of penetrance, moderate hypertrophy, and early progression to dilated cardiomyopathy in Japanese patients. Early identification of individuals with this mutation may provide the opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of early therapeutic interventions. [source]


Echocardiographic Study of Cardiac Morphological and Functional Changes before and after Parturition in Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension

ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2006
Lijun Yuan M.D.
Purpose: To investigate the cardiac morphological and functional changes by echocardiography, before and after parturition in patients with pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). Methods: The parameters related to cardiac morphology and left ventricular diastolic and systolic functions were compared before and after parturition in 32 patients with PIH and 24 normal pregnant (NP) women. Results: Compared with NP women, the PIH patients had greater diameters of left atrium and left ventricle in end-diastole (LAd: 38.9 ± 4.5 vs 34.6 ± 4.4 mm, P = 0.0015; LVEDd: 51.2 ± 5.8 vs 47.1 ± 4.2 mm, P = 0.036) and lower E/A (1.2 ± 0.2 vs 1.4 ± 0.2, P = 0.009) and greater fractional shortening (FS) (39.8 ± 6.5% vs 37.1 ± 6.9%, P = 0.042) and ejection fraction (EF) (0.72 ± 0.07 vs 0.66 ± 0.08, P = 0.040). Pericardial effusion (PE) occurred in 31.3% and 16.7% of PIH and NP, respectively. The LAd and LVEDd in 70% and 47% patients with PIH resolved and PE disappeared in 80% of PIH patients postpartum. E/A ratio in PIH significantly increased after parturition, while the two patients with cardiac systolic dysfunction did not improve very much. Conclusions: Compared with normal pregnancy, the most significant cardiac morphological changes in PIH are the greater diameters of left atrium and left ventricle, thicker inter-ventricular septum (IVS), more PE, impaired left ventricular diastolic function, and increased systolic function. The PE could disappear in PIH and about half of other abnormalities could recover to be the level of normal pregnancy postpartum within 2 months. [source]


Computational cardiac atlases: from patient to population and back

EXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
Alistair A. Young
Integrative models of cardiac physiology are important for understanding disease and planning intervention. Multimodal cardiovascular imaging plays an important role in defining the computational domain, the boundary/initial conditions, and tissue function and properties. Computational models can then be personalized through information derived from in vivo and, when possible, non-invasive images. Efforts are now established to provide Web-accessible structural and functional atlases of the normal and pathological heart for clinical, research and educational purposes. Efficient and robust statistical representations of cardiac morphology and morphodynamics can thereby be obtained, enabling quantitative analysis of images based on such representations. Statistical models of shape and appearance can be built automatically from large populations of image datasets by minimizing manual intervention and data collection. These methods facilitate statistical analysis of regional heart shape and wall motion characteristics across population groups, via the application of parametric mathematical modelling tools. These parametric modelling tools and associated ontological schema also facilitate data fusion between different imaging protocols and modalities as well as other data sources. Statistical priors can also be used to support cardiac image analysis with applications to advanced quantification and subject-specific simulations of computational physiology. [source]


Clinical risk factors for portopulmonary hypertension,

HEPATOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
Steven M. Kawut
Portopulmonary hypertension affects up to 6% of patients with advanced liver disease, but the predictors and biologic mechanism for the development of this complication are unknown. We sought to determine the clinical risk factors for portopulmonary hypertension in patients with advanced liver disease. We performed a multicenter case-control study nested within a prospective cohort of patients with portal hypertension recruited from tertiary care centers. Cases had a mean pulmonary artery pressure > 25 mm Hg, pulmonary vascular resistance > 240 dynes · second · cm,5, and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure , 15 mm Hg. Controls had a right ventricular systolic pressure < 40 mm Hg (if estimable) and normal right-sided cardiac morphology by transthoracic echocardiography. The study sample included 34 cases and 141 controls. Female sex was associated with a higher risk of portopulmonary hypertension than male sex (adjusted odds ratio = 2.90, 95% confidence interval 1.20-7.01, P = 0.018). Autoimmune hepatitis was associated with an increased risk (adjusted odds ratio = 4.02, 95% confidence interval 1.14-14.23, P = 0.031), and hepatitis C infection was associated with a decreased risk (adjusted odds ratio = 0.24, 95% confidence interval 0.09-0.65, P = 0.005) of portopulmonary hypertension. The severity of liver disease was not related to the risk of portopulmonary hypertension. Conclusion: Female sex and autoimmune hepatitis were associated with an increased risk of portopulmonary hypertension, whereas hepatitis C infection was associated with a decreased risk in patients with advanced liver disease. Hormonal and immunologic factors may therefore be integral to the development of portopulmonary hypertension. (HEPATOLOGY 2008.) [source]


Non-invasive tracking of avian development in vivo by MRI

NMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Issue 4 2009
Bianca Hogers
Abstract Conventional microscopic techniques, to study embryonic development, require large numbers of embryos and are invasive, making follow-up impossible. We explored the use of in vivo MRI to study embryonic development, in general, and cardiovascular development in particular, over time. Wild-type quail embryos (n,=,11) were imaged at embryonic days 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, covering the main time course of embryonic heart development. On each imaging day cardiac morphology was evaluated and embryonic length was measured. MRI-embryos as well as control embryos (n,=,11) were sacrificed at day 11 and scored for external malformations, while embryonic wet weight and stage were determined. In addition, venous clipped embryos (n,=,4), known to develop cardiovascular malformations, were scanned at regular intervals and sacrificed at day 9 for histological analysis ex vivo. We were able to follow heart development of individual quail embryos inside their shell non-invasively over time, with sufficient detail to study cardiac morphology in vivo. We did not find any adverse effect of the repeated MRI examinations on morphology, length, or weight. Prenatally diagnosed malformations, like ventricular septal defects and aortic arch interruptions were confirmed by histology. In conclusion, micro-MRI can be used to evaluate in vivo early embryonic development and to diagnose cardiovascular malformations prenatally. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Altered cardiovascular vagal responses in nonelderly female patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism and no apparent cardiovascular disease

CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
Renata Boschi Portella
Summary Objective Subclinical hyperthyroidism (SH) has been associated with exercise intolerance, changes in cardiac morphology, atrial arrhythmias and sympathovagal imbalance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the vagal reserve and modulation by a sympathetic stimulus in nonelderly patients with SH without cardiovascular problems. Design We carried out a cross-sectional study, comparing data of the heart rate variability (HRV) of SH patients and healthy controls at rest and after vagal and sympathetic stimulation. Patients We studied 16 female patients with at least 6 months of SH and 16 healthy female controls with the same median age (40 vs. 34·5 years). Measurements We used the tilt test, with electrocardiographic record at rest, during the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) manoeuvre and after tilting, in order to analyse HRV in the frequency domain (%high frequency (HF) and low/high frequency ratio (LF/HF) using Biopotentials Captation System software. Results The median TSH level was 0·03 mU/l in patients and 1·37 mUI/l in controls. The median free T4 was 1·37 ng/dl in patients and 1·20 ng/dl in controls. Patients demonstrated a significantly smaller difference between %HF during the RSA and %HF at rest than controls (median ,7·5 vs. 36·6, P < 0·001). There was a lower difference between LF/HF ratio after tilting and LF/HF ratio at rest in patients than in controls (1·5 vs. 5·3, P = 0·005). Conclusion Subclinical hyperthyroidism affects cardiovascular autonomic balance in otherwise apparently healthy nonelderly females by blunting vagal responses. [source]