Antonia Delgado-Montero1, Pablo Martinez-Legazpi2, M Mar Desco3, Daniel Rodríguez-Pérez3, Fernando Díaz-Otero4, Lorenzo Rossini5, Candelas Pérez Del Villar1, Elena Rodríguez-González1, Christian Chazo1, Yolanda Benito1, Oscar Flores6, José Carlos Antoranz3, Francisco Fernández-Avilés1, Juan C Del Álamo5, Javier Bermejo1. 1. Department of Cardiology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, and CIBERCV, Madrid, Spain. 2. Department of Cardiology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, and CIBERCV, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: legazpi.pablo@cibercv.es. 3. Department of Mathematical Physics and Fluids, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain. 4. Department of Neurology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain. 5. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department and Institute for Engineering in Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California. 6. Department of Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cardioembolic stroke is a major source of mortality and disability worldwide. The authors hypothesized that quantitative characterization of intracardiac blood stasis may be useful to determine cardioembolic risk in order to personalize anticoagulation therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between image-based metrics of blood stasis in the left ventricle and brain microembolism, a surrogate marker of cardiac embolism, in a controlled animal experimental model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: Intraventricular blood stasis maps were derived from conventional color Doppler echocardiography in 10 pigs during anterior AMI induced by sequential ligation of the mid and proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (AMI-1 and AMI-2 phases). From these maps, indices of global and local blood stasis were calculated, such as the average residence time and the size and ratio of contact with the endocardium of blood regions with long residence times. The incidence of brain microemboli (high-intensity transient signals [HITS]) was monitored using carotid Doppler ultrasound. RESULTS: HITS were detected in 0%, 50%, and 90% of the animals at baseline and during AMI-1 and AMI-2 phases, respectively. The average residence time of blood in the left ventricle increased in parallel. The residence time performed well to predict microemboli (C-index = 0.89, 95% CI, 0.75-1.00) and closely correlated with the number of HITS (R = 0.87, P < .001). Multivariate and mediation analyses demonstrated that the number of HITS during AMI phases was best explained by stasis. Among conventional echocardiographic variables, only apical wall motion score weakly correlated with the number of HITS (R = 0.3, P = .04). Mural thrombosis in the left ventricle was ruled out in all animals. CONCLUSIONS: The degree of stasis of blood in the left ventricle caused by AMI is closely related to the incidence of brain microembolism. Therefore, stasis imaging is a promising tool for a patient-specific assessment of cardioembolic risk.
BACKGROUND:Cardioembolic stroke is a major source of mortality and disability worldwide. The authors hypothesized that quantitative characterization of intracardiac blood stasis may be useful to determine cardioembolic risk in order to personalize anticoagulation therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between image-based metrics of blood stasis in the left ventricle and brain microembolism, a surrogate marker of cardiac embolism, in a controlled animal experimental model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). METHODS: Intraventricular blood stasis maps were derived from conventional color Doppler echocardiography in 10 pigs during anterior AMI induced by sequential ligation of the mid and proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (AMI-1 and AMI-2 phases). From these maps, indices of global and local blood stasis were calculated, such as the average residence time and the size and ratio of contact with the endocardium of blood regions with long residence times. The incidence of brain microemboli (high-intensity transient signals [HITS]) was monitored using carotid Doppler ultrasound. RESULTS: HITS were detected in 0%, 50%, and 90% of the animals at baseline and during AMI-1 and AMI-2 phases, respectively. The average residence time of blood in the left ventricle increased in parallel. The residence time performed well to predict microemboli (C-index = 0.89, 95% CI, 0.75-1.00) and closely correlated with the number of HITS (R = 0.87, P < .001). Multivariate and mediation analyses demonstrated that the number of HITS during AMI phases was best explained by stasis. Among conventional echocardiographic variables, only apical wall motion score weakly correlated with the number of HITS (R = 0.3, P = .04). Mural thrombosis in the left ventricle was ruled out in all animals. CONCLUSIONS: The degree of stasis of blood in the left ventricle caused by AMI is closely related to the incidence of brain microembolism. Therefore, stasis imaging is a promising tool for a patient-specific assessment of cardioembolic risk.
Authors: Manuel García-Villalba; Lorenzo Rossini; Alejandro Gonzalo; Davis Vigneault; Pablo Martinez-Legazpi; Eduardo Durán; Oscar Flores; Javier Bermejo; Elliot McVeigh; Andrew M Kahn; Juan C Del Álamo Journal: Front Physiol Date: 2021-02-26 Impact factor: 4.755