Acromegaly: evidence for a direct relation between disease activity and cardiac dysfunction in patients without ventricular hypertrophy.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Cardiac abnormalities, such as cardiomegaly and congestive heart failure, occur frequently in advanced acromegaly. Abnormalities of systolic and diastolic function, mostly associated with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, have been reported. The impact of disease activity on LV performance in patients with normal or slightly elevated LV muscle mass has not been demonstrated.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Conventional two-dimensional/Doppler echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) of the mitral annulus were performed in 13 patients with active acromegaly (AA) and normal or slightly elevated LV muscle mass (< 140 g/m2) and in 19 cured/well-controlled patients (CA). A group of 21 volunteers without symptoms or signs of cardiac disease served as controls (CON). The combined myocardial performance index (Tei-Index) was determined in all patients and controls.

RESULTS: Muscle mass index of the left ventricle, ejection fraction, fractional shorting, E/ET-ratio, systolic (ST) and late diastolic (AT) annular velocities did not differ significantly between the three groups. In the AA group, the early diastolic annular velocity ET[7.13 +/- 2.11 (AA); 9.83 +/- 3.29 (CA); 10.10 +/- 1.70 m/s (CON); P < 0.05 AA vs. CA, P < 0.005 AA vs. CON] and the ET/AT-ratio [0.71 +/- 0.26 (AA); 0.95 +/- 0.33 (CA); 1.00 +/- 0.15 m/s (CON); P < 0.05 AA vs. CA, P < 0.005 AA vs. CON] were significantly reduced. Patients with AA had a longer deceleration time [209 +/- 19 (AA); 179 +/- 22 (CA); 185 +/- 26 ms (CON); P < 0.05]. The Tei-Index was significantly higher in AA in comparison with CON [0.50 +/- 0.15 (AA); 0.48 +/- 0.12 (CA); 0.41 +/- 0.10 (CON); P < 0.05 AA vs. CON]. Subjects with CA did not differ significantly from controls with respect to 2-D/Doppler echo- and TDI-derived parameters.

CONCLUSION: The data demonstrate that diastolic dysfunction can be verified by tissue Doppler imaging in patients with active acromegaly with normal or slightly elevated muscle mass of the left ventricle and seems to be related to disease activity. The Tei-Index as a sensitive combined myocardial performance index can be used to complete the assessment of systolic and diastolic LV performance in acromegalic patients.