title: Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography demonstrates no effect of active acromegaly on left ventricular strain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) allows for the study of myocardial strain (ε), a marker of early and subclinical ventricular systolic dysfunction. Cardiac disease may be present in patients with acromegaly; however, STE has never been used to evaluate these patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain in patients with active acromegaly with normal LV systolic function.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional clinical study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with active acromegaly with no detectable heart disease and a control group were matched for age, gender, arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus underwent STE. Global LV longitudinal ε (GLS), left ventricular mass index (LVMi), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and relative wall thickness (RWT) were obtained via two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography using STE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven patients with active acromegaly (mean age 45.6 ± 13.8; 48.6% were males) and 48 controls were included. The mean GLS was not significantly different between the acromegaly group and the control group (in %, -20.1 ± 3.1 vs. -19.4 ± 2.2, p = 0.256). Mean LVMi was increased in the acromegaly group (in g/m2, 101.6 ± 27.1 vs. 73.2 ± 18.6, p < 0.01). There was a negative correlation between LVMi and GLS (r = -0.39, p = 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acromegaly patients, despite presenting with a higher LVMi when analyzed by 2D echocardiography, did not present with impairment in the strain when compared to a control group; this finding indicates a low chance of evolution to systolic dysfunction and agrees with recent studies that show a lower frequency of cardiac disease in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Section, Medical School and Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rodolpho Paulo Rocco, 255, 9th floor, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-913, Brazil. isavolschan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: I C M
authors.initials: ICM
authors.lastname: Volschan
authors.affiliation: Neuroendocrinology Research Center/ Endocrinology Section, Medical School and Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.|Neuroendocrine Unit, Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Secretaria Estadual de Saúde do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.|Endocrine Section, Hospital Federal de Bonsucesso, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kasuki
authors.affiliation: Neuroendocrinology Research Center/ Endocrinology Section, Medical School and Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: C M S
authors.initials: CMS
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Echocardiographic Section, Hospital Samaritano e Americas Medical City, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Alcantara
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Saraiva
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Section, Medical School and Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rodolpho Paulo Rocco, 255, 9th floor, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-913, Brazil.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Xavier
authors.affiliation: Neuroendocrinology Research Center/ Endocrinology Section, Medical School and Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.|Neuroendocrine Unit, Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Secretaria Estadual de Saúde do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Gadelha
mesh_terms: D000172:Acromegaly / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Acromegaly; Cardiopathy; Left ventricular strain; Speckle tracking echocardiography