BACKGROUND: Whether morphological abnormalities of the mitral valve represent part of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) disease process is unresolved. Therefore, we applied cardiovascular magnetic resonance to characterize mitral valve morphology in a large HCM cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cine cardiac magnetic resonance images were obtained in 172 HCM patients (age, 42±18 years; 62% men) and 172 control subjects. In addition, 15 HCM gene-positive/phenotype-negative relatives were studied. Anterior mitral leaflet (AML) and posterior mitral leaflet lengths were greater in HCM patients than in control subjects (26±5 versus 19±5 mm, P<0.001; and 14±4 versus 10±3 mm, P<0.001, respectively), including 59 patients (34%) in whom AML length alone, posterior mitral leaflet length alone, or both were particularly substantial (>2 SDs above controls). Leaflet length was increased compared with controls in virtually all HCM age groups, including young patients 15 to 20 years of age (AML, 26±5 versus 21±4 mm; P=0.0002) and those ≥60 years of age (AML, 26±4 versus 19±2 mm; P<0.001). No relation was evident between mitral leaflet length and LV thickness or mass index (P=0.09 and P=0.16, respectively). A ratio of AML length to LV outflow tract diameter of >2.0 was associated with subaortic obstruction (P=0.001). In addition, AML length in 15 genotype-positive relatives without LV hypertrophy exceeded that of matched control subjects (21±3 versus 18±3 mm; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In HCM, mitral valve leaflets are elongated independently of other disease variables, likely constituting a primary phenotypic expression of this heterogeneous disease, and are an important morphological abnormality responsible for LV outflow obstruction in combination with small outflow tract dimension. These findings suggest a novel role for cardiac magnetic resonance in the assessment of HCM.
BACKGROUND: Whether morphological abnormalities of the mitral valve represent part of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) disease process is unresolved. Therefore, we applied cardiovascular magnetic resonance to characterize mitral valve morphology in a large HCM cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cine cardiac magnetic resonance images were obtained in 172 HCM patients (age, 42±18 years; 62% men) and 172 control subjects. In addition, 15 HCM gene-positive/phenotype-negative relatives were studied. Anterior mitral leaflet (AML) and posterior mitral leaflet lengths were greater in HCM patients than in control subjects (26±5 versus 19±5 mm, P<0.001; and 14±4 versus 10±3 mm, P<0.001, respectively), including 59 patients (34%) in whom AML length alone, posterior mitral leaflet length alone, or both were particularly substantial (>2 SDs above controls). Leaflet length was increased compared with controls in virtually all HCM age groups, including young patients 15 to 20 years of age (AML, 26±5 versus 21±4 mm; P=0.0002) and those ≥60 years of age (AML, 26±4 versus 19±2 mm; P<0.001). No relation was evident between mitral leaflet length and LV thickness or mass index (P=0.09 and P=0.16, respectively). A ratio of AML length to LV outflow tract diameter of >2.0 was associated with subaortic obstruction (P=0.001). In addition, AML length in 15 genotype-positive relatives without LV hypertrophy exceeded that of matched control subjects (21±3 versus 18±3 mm; P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In HCM, mitral valve leaflets are elongated independently of other disease variables, likely constituting a primary phenotypic expression of this heterogeneous disease, and are an important morphological abnormality responsible for LV outflow obstruction in combination with small outflow tract dimension. These findings suggest a novel role for cardiac magnetic resonance in the assessment of HCM.
Authors: Robert A Levine; Albert A Hagége; Daniel P Judge; Muralidhar Padala; Jacob P Dal-Bianco; Elena Aikawa; Jonathan Beaudoin; Joyce Bischoff; Nabila Bouatia-Naji; Patrick Bruneval; Jonathan T Butcher; Alain Carpentier; Miguel Chaput; Adrian H Chester; Catherine Clusel; Francesca N Delling; Harry C Dietz; Christian Dina; Ronen Durst; Leticia Fernandez-Friera; Mark D Handschumacher; Morten O Jensen; Xavier P Jeunemaitre; Hervé Le Marec; Thierry Le Tourneau; Roger R Markwald; Jean Mérot; Emmanuel Messas; David P Milan; Tui Neri; Russell A Norris; David Peal; Maelle Perrocheau; Vincent Probst; Michael Pucéat; Nadia Rosenthal; Jorge Solis; Jean-Jacques Schott; Ehud Schwammenthal; Susan A Slaugenhaupt; Jae-Kwan Song; Magdi H Yacoub Journal: Nat Rev Cardiol Date: 2015-10-20 Impact factor: 32.419
Authors: John D Groarke; Patrycja Z Galazka; Allison L Cirino; Neal K Lakdawala; Jens J Thune; Henning Bundgaard; E John Orav; Robert A Levine; Carolyn Y Ho Journal: Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging Date: 2018-10-01 Impact factor: 6.875
Authors: Jolanda van der Velden; Carolyn Y Ho; Jil C Tardiff; Iacopo Olivotto; Bjorn C Knollmann; Lucie Carrier Journal: Cardiovasc Res Date: 2015-01-28 Impact factor: 10.787