Proximal aortic stiffness is related to left ventricular function and exercise capacity in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Patients with NIDC showed increased proximal aortic stiffness, which relates to LV systolic and diastolic function and exercise capacity. The echocardiographic assessment of the regional aorta PWV seems to be clinically important.

Aortic stiffness independently predicts exercise capacity in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a multimodality imaging study

“…The results are similar to a recent study of non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy, which demonstrated that there is a significant association between exercise capacity and aortic stiffness, measured by ultrasound 31. However, unlike that study, there was no significant association between pVO 2 and LV diastolic variables, probably owing to substantially different patient populations.…”

Prognostic evaluation of the elastic properties of the ascending aorta in dilated cardiomyopathy

“…24 Similarly, our group found a correlation between echocardiographic aortic elastic properties and peak VO 2 , given their role as independent predictor of exercise capacity in HF patients with DCM. 24 Similarly, our group found a correlation between echocardiographic aortic elastic properties and peak VO 2 , given their role as independent predictor of exercise capacity in HF patients with DCM.…”

Arterial wave reflection and subclinical left ventricular systolic dysfunction

“…However, several reports have demonstrated that alterations in ventriculo-vascular coupling may be a cofactor in the pathogenesis of heart failure. Increased arterial wave reflection and stiffness have been described in patients with systolic heart failure [17,18,47,48], and brain natriuretic peptide, a marker of severity of heart failure with prognostic value, has been shown to be strongly associated with increased aortic stiffness in the setting of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and in patients with CAD [49,50]. Alterations in arterial stiffness and wave reflection have also been documented in patients with heart failure and normal ejection fraction [10,19,46].…”

“…As a consequence of the progressive stiffening of the elastic arteries, cardiac afterload increases both directly (because of a reduction in the Windkessel function) and indirectly (because the accelerated return from periphery of the arterial wave reflection that adds to the resistance to the LV ejection effort) [6–8]. Indicators of increased arterial wave reflection are independent predictors of coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiovascular events, and mortality [9–16], and alterations in ventriculo-vascular coupling have been advocated as possible factors involved in the pathogenesis of both systolic [17,18] and diastolic heart failure [19,20]. …”