Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Structural and Functional Characterization of the Aorta in Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy
Authors' conclusion
The increased wall stiffness observed in the aortas of obstructive patients with HCM is associated with structural alterations in the medial lamellar unit, including changes in smooth muscle cells and the extracellular matrix, indicating potential arterial dysfunction.
Study context
- Population
- Obstructive patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) undergoing myectomy, and normal controlsconsecutive patients with HCM undergoing myectomy, plus 9 normal controls, pulse wave velocity in 85 patients with HCM vs 117 age-matched normal controls · HCM patients (biopsy) 101 · normal controls (biopsy) 9 · HCM patients (pulse wave velocity) 85 · age-matched normal controls (pulse wave velocity) 117
- Participants
- 101 patients
- Exposure
- Aortic wall structure and pulse wave velocity in patients with HCM compared with normal controls
- HCMn = 101
- Controlsn = 9
- Outcome
- Medial lamellar units, interlamellar distance and aortic wall thickness
Methodological detailsconsecutive patients
- Consecutive patients
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Number of medial lamellar units significantly decreased in HCM, with increased interlamellar distance and aortic wall thickness, compared with controls
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Lamellar structure (electron microscopy)
- Altered lamellar structure with disorientation of elastin fibers from the circumferential direction
Protein expression
- Significant decrease in collagen content, α-smooth muscle actin, smooth muscle myosin, smooth muscle 22 and integrin β1
- Significant increase in calponin and caspase-3
- Fibulins 1, 2, and 5 showed reduced expression in HCM-aortic biopsies
Pulse wave velocity
- Significantly higher in patients with HCM compared with healthy controls
- Association between higher pulse wave velocity and more severe molecular and clinical parameters
Original publication
Structural and Functional Characterization of the Aorta in Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy. Circ Heart Fail. Published 23 January 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →