Key result
Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography coupled with molecular and epigenetic markers offers a non-invasive approach for the clinical assessment and characterization of myocardial fibrosis.
Why the study?
Detecting myocardial fibrosis by non-canonical markers remains challenging, and 2D speckle tracking echocardiography detects abnormalities without specifying underlying histopathological causes.
Combining 2D speckle tracking echocardiography with molecular approaches like epigenetic markers may enhance the non-invasive detection and characterization of myocardial fibrosis.
MF represents a critical target in HF remodeling; leaves open validation of specific pathways before therapeutic translation.
The pathological remodeling of myocardial tissue is the main cause of heart diseases. Several processes are involved in the onset of heart failure, and the comprehension of the mechanisms underlying the pathological phenotype deserves special attention to find novel procedures to identify the site of injury and develop novel strategies, as well as molecular druggable pathways, to counteract the high degree of morbidity associated with it. Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is recognized as a critical trigger for disruption of heart functionality due to the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins, in response to an injury. Its diagnosis remains focalized on invasive techniques, such as endomyocardial biopsy (EMB), or may be noninvasively detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI). The detection of MF by non-canonical markers remains a challenge in clinical practice. During the last two decades, two-dimensional (2D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) has emerged as a new non-invasive imaging modality, able to detect myocardial tissue abnormalities without specifying the causes of the underlying histopathological changes. In this review, we highlighted the clinical utility of 2D-STE deformation imaging for tissue characterization, and its main technical limitations and criticisms. Moreover, we focalized on the importance of coupling 2D-STE examination with the molecular approaches in the clinical decision-making processes, in particular when the 2D-STE does not reflect myocardial dysfunction directly. We also attempted to examine the roles of epigenetic markers of MF and hypothesized microRNA-based mechanisms aiming to understand how they match with the clinical utility of echocardiographic deformation imaging for tissue characterization and MF assessment.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Sonaglioni et al. (2022) conducted a review in Myocardial fibrosis. 2D speckle tracking echocardiography and molecular approaches was evaluated. Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography coupled with molecular and epigenetic markers offers a non-invasive approach for the clinical assessment and characterization of myocardial fibrosis.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: