Left ventricular twist is impaired in acromegaly: Insights from the three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiographic MAGYAR-Path Study

Abstract

Introduction: Acromegaly is a rare, chronic, disfiguring, and debilitating disease caused, in 90% of cases, by a benign monoclonal growth hormone–secreting pituitary adenoma. The present study aimed to assess left ventricular (LV) rotational and twist mechanics in acromegalic patients and to compare their results to age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Methods: The present study comprised 24 acromegalic patients, from which 4 were excluded due to insufficient image quality (mean age: 57.8 ± 13.7 years, 7 men). The control group consisted of 18 age- and gender-matched healthy individuals (mean age: 54.8 ± 6.9 years, 8 men). Results: In 4 out of 20 acromegalic patients, LV showed near absence of twist, as the so-called LV “rigid body rotation” (RBR). Between all acromegalic patients without LV-RBR and controls, both LV basal (–3.76 ± 1.73 vs. −6.17 ± 2.66°, P =.004) and apical rotation (6.12 ± 4.03 vs. 10.81 ± 3.65°, P =.001) and LV twist (9.88 ± 4.74 vs. 16.98 ± 3.88°, P