Thomas A Treibel, Rebecca Kozor, Rebecca Schofield, Giulia Benedetti, Marianna Fontana, Anish N Bhuva, Amir Sheikh, Begoña López, Arantxa González, Charlotte Manisty, Guy Lloyd, Peter Kellman, Javier Díez, James C Moon
BACKGROUND: Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, a key process in human cardiac disease, results from cellular (hypertrophy) and extracellular matrix expansion (interstitial fibrosis). OBJECTIVES: This study sought to investigate whether human myocardial interstitial fibrosis in aortic stenosis (AS) is plastic and can regress. METHODS: Patients with symptomatic, severe AS (n = 181; aortic valve area index 0.4 ± 0.1 cm2 /m2 ) were assessed pre-aortic valve replacement (AVR) by echocardiography (AS severity, diastology), cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) (for volumes, function, and focal or diffuse fibrosis), biomarkers (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and high-sensitivity troponin T), and the 6-min walk test...
February 27, 2018: Journal of the American College of Cardiology