Background: Noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NCCM) is a recently recognized disorder frequently associated with systolic and diastolic heart failures. This study was designed to examine aortic stiffness in NCCM patients and to compare these results to age- and gender-matched controls.
Methods: A total of 20 patients with typical echocardiographic features of NCCM (age 38 +/- 16 years, eight males) were investigated. Their results were compared to 20 age- and gender-matched controls. All subjects underwent a complete two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiographic examination. Systolic (SD) and diastolic (DD) ascending aortic diameters were recorded in M-mode at a level of 3 cm above the aortic valve from a parasternal long-axis view. Aortic stiffness index (beta) was calculated as a characteristic of aortic elasticity, as ln(SBP/DBP)/[(SD - DD)/DD], where SBP and DBP are the systolic and diastolic blood pressures, respectively, and ln is the natural logarithm.
Results: The number of noncompacted segments in the NCCM patients was 4.6 +/- 2.0. NCCM patients had significantly increased left ventricular dimensions and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Compared to controls, aortic stiffness index (beta) was significantly increased in NCCM patients (8.3 +/- 5.2 vs. 3.5 +/- 1.1, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Increased aortic stiffness can be observed in patients with NCCM with moderate to severe heart failure. These alterations may be due to neurohormonal changes in heart failure.