Key result
Acromegaly is associated with significantly increased right atrial volumes, including maximum right atrial volume (54.5 mL vs 47.2 mL, p=0.03), and altered right atrial strain compared to healthy controls.
Why the study?
Acromegaly is associated with major cardiovascular co-morbidities and cardiomyopathy, prompting the quantification of right atrial morphology and function using 3D speckle-tracking echocardiography.
Does acromegaly affect right atrial morphology and function as measured by 3D speckle-tracking echocardiography compared to healthy controls?
Observational (n=66)
No
Does acromegaly affect right atrial morphology and function as measured by 3D speckle-tracking echocardiography compared to healthy controls?
Absolute Event Rate: 54.5% vs 47.2%
p-value: p=0.03
Acromegaly is associated with significant right atrial enlargement and altered strain parameters, which correlate with hormonal activity and may be partially reversible with disease control.
RA changes in acromegaly merit monitoring but should not yet change practice; leaves open reversibility and prognostic value.
BACKGROUND: Acromegaly is a chronic, rare hormonal disease associated with major cardiovascular co-morbidities. The disease, in the majority of the cases, is caused by a benign human growth hormone (hGH) secreting adenoma. Cardiovascular involvement is especially common in acromegalic patients from the most common hypertension to cardiomyopathy. Left ventricular hypertrophy and myocardial fibrosis are considered common findings in acromegalic cardiomyopathy, which might result in severe heart failure at end-stages. It was set out to quantify right atrial (RA) morphology and function in a group of acromegalic patients using three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking echocardiography (3DSTE). METHODS: The study comprised 30 patients from which 8 patients were excluded due to inadequate image quality. Mean age of the remaining acromegaly patients were 53.7±14.5 years (7 males). In the control group 44 healthy adults were enrolled (mean age: 50.7±12.6 years, 15 males). In each case, complete two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography was performed followed by 3DSTE. RESULTS: All three RA volumetric parameters (Vmax, Vmin, VpreA) were significantly higher in case of acromegaly compared to the healthy controls. Strain analysis revealed that RA function may be enhanced in acromegalic patients, which is more notable in case of active acromegaly. Numerous independent strain parameters had significant correlations with different hormonal variables in the active acromegaly group. These correlations were not present in the inactive acromegaly subgroup. CONCLUSIONS: Acromegaly has a profound effect on RA function and with proper treatment these changes partly seem to be reversible.
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Kormányos et al. (2020) conducted an observational in Acromegaly (n=66). Acromegaly vs. Healthy controls was evaluated on Maximum right atrial volume (Vmax) (p=0.03). Acromegaly is associated with significantly increased right atrial volumes, including maximum right atrial volume (54.5 mL vs 47.2 mL, p=0.03), and altered right atrial strain compared to healthy controls.
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