1. Assessment of right ventricular myocardial stiffness by cardiac elastography in patients with transthyretin amyloidosis.
- Author
-
Neto ACA, Pereira NM, Romero CE, Cafezeiro CRF, Bueno BVK, Rissato JH, Pereira FL, Chammas MC, Ramires FJA, Mady C, Junior WM, Filho RK, and Fernandes F
- Abstract
Introduction: Amyloidosis is a group of diseases characterized by the deposition of misfolded protein fragments, forming insoluble fibrils in organs and tissues. Transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis, particularly cardiac amyloidosis (CA), leads to myocardial stiffness and heart failure. Right ventricular (RV) involvement is common in CA, but assessing RV stiffness noninvasively is challenging. This study aimed to evaluate RV stiffness using shear wave elastography (SWE) and correlate the findings with clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic parameters., Materials and Methods: In this prospective, single-center, cross-sectional study, 60 patients were divided into three groups: 20 with cardiac ATTR amyloidosis (ATTR-CM), 20 with non-cardiac ATTR amyloidosis (ATTR non-CM), and 20 healthy controls. Myocardial stiffness was measured using SWE in the free wall of the RV. Pearson's and Spearman's correlation coefficients were used for statistical analysis, with significance set at p < 0.05., Results: RV SWE values showed a strong positive correlation with functional class and a moderate correlation with BNP and troponin I levels. A significant negative correlation was found between RV SWE values and the 6-minute walk test distance. SWE also correlated with echocardiographic variables like interventricular septum thickness and RV basal diameter. An SWE cutoff of ≥ 4.6. kPa was associated with cardiac involvement, showing 65 % sensitivity and 76 % specificity., Conclusions: SWE is a valuable noninvasive technique for assessing RV stiffness in CA patients, correlating well with clinical and echocardiographic parameters. An RV SWE value of ≥ 4.6 kPa could aid in early detection of cardiac involvement in ATTR amyloidosis, improving diagnosis and management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest This work was funded by Pfizer (application - ID 55925015) and approved by the ethics committee of InCor through a substantiated opinion (CAAE 27437019.5.0000.0068). The authors declare that the sponsorship did not influence the results or the interpretation of the data presented in this article., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF