The association of left ventricular histologically verified myocardial fibrosis with pulmonary hypertension in severe aortic stenosis

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the association between histologically verified left ventricular (LV) myocardial fibrosis (MF) and its bio- and functional markers with pulmonary hypertension (PH) in severe aortic stenosis (AS). Methods: About 34 patients with isolated severe AS underwent 2D echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, and plasma NT-proBNP evaluation before aortic valve replacement (AVR). LV measurements were analyzed by CMR and LV strain using feature tracking software (Medis Suite QStrain 2.0). Myocardial biopsy sampled at the time of AVR was assessed by a histomorphometric analysis. PH was defined as pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) ⩾ 45 mm Hg. Results: Patients with severe AS and PH (mean PASP 53 ± 3.7 mm Hg) had higher extent of diffuse MF versus patients without PH (12 (10.4–12.7)% vs 6.6 (4.6–8.2)% (p = 0.00)). The extent of diffuse MF correlated with LV dilatation ( r = 0.7, p = 0.02), indices of LV dysfunction (lower ejection fraction ( r = −0.6, p < 0.001), global longitudinal ( r = −0.5, p = 0.02) and circumferential strain ( r = −0.5, p = 0.05), elevated NT-proBNP ( r = 0.5, p = 0.005) and elevated PASP ( r = 0.6, p < 0.001)). Histological MF > 10% (AUC 94.9%), LV global longitudinal strain > −15.5% (AUC 86.3%), and NT-proBNP > 2090 ng/l (AUC 85.1%) were independent predictors of PH in severe AS. Conclusions: The extent of diffuse myocardial fibrosis in combination with reduced longitudinal left ventricular strain and increased plasma levels of NT-proBNP relates to pulmonary hypertension in severe aortic stenosis.

Severe Aortic Valve Stenosis and Pulmonary Hypertension: A Systematic Review of Non-Invasive Ways of Risk Stratification, Especially in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

“…In particular, LV fibrosis area and LV global longitudinal strain were valuable predictors for detecting the presence of PH in severe AS. In another study in 2021, the same working group led by Gumauskiene et al [58] showed in a very similar patient population with concurrent endomyocardial biopsy that histologically detectable diffuse myocardial fibrosis correlated positively with LV dilatation and negatively with LV dysfunction, global longitudinal strain and circumferential strain, respectively.…”

Clinical–imaging–pathological correlation in pulmonary hypertension associated with left heart disease

“…In patients with AOS, patchy LGE accumulates over time and is associated with more severe valve stenosis and LV dysfunction [ 97 ]. The extent of LV myocardial fibrosis measured by MRI and validated by endomyocardial biopsy in AOS patients correlated with PH severity [ 98 ].…”