title: Early detection of subclinical ventricular deterioration in aortic stenosis with cardiovascular magnetic resonance and echocardiography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Severe aortic stenosis (AS) patients with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) or left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction are known to have worse outcome. We aimed to investigate whether LGE on CMR would be useful in early detection of subclinical LV structural and functional derangements in AS patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  118 patients with moderate to severe AS were prospectively enrolled. Echocardiography and CMR images were taken and the patients were divided into groups according to the presence/absence of LGE and of LV systolic dysfunction (LV ejection fraction (EF) <50%). The stiffness of LV was calculated based on Doppler and CMR measurements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were grouped into either group 1, no LGE and normal LVEF, group 2, LGE but normal LVEF and group 3, LGE with depressed LVEF. There was a significant trend towards increasing LV volumes, worsening of LV diastolic function (E/e', diastolic elastance), systolic function (end-systolic elastance) and LV hypertrophy between the three groups, which coincided with worsening functional capacity (all p-value < 0.001 for trend). Also, significant differences in the above parameters were noted between group 1 and 2 (E/e', 14.6 ± 4.3 (mean ± standard deviation) in group 1 vs. 18.2 ± 9.4 in group 2; end-systolic elastance, 3.24 ± 2.31 in group 1 vs. 2.38 ± 1.16 in group 2, all p-value < 0.05). The amount of myocardial fibrosis on CMR correlated with parameters of diastolic (diastolic elastance, Spearman's ρ = 0.256, p-value = 0.005) and systolic function (end-systolic elastance, Spearman's ρ = -0.359, p-value < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate the usefulness of CMR for early detection of subclinical LV structural and functional deterioration in AS patients.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Center, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongro-gu, Seoul 110-744, Korea. tyche.park@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Seung-Pyo
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sung-Ji
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yong-Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung-A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Eun-Ah
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyung-Kwan
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Whal
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang-Chol
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seung Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dae-Won
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Yeon-Hyeon
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Choe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000150:complications*; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D003287:Contrast Media; D003971:Diastole; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013318:Stroke Volume; D013599:Systole; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA