Heart Failure in 3 Patients with Acromegaly: Echocardiographic Assessment

Abstract

We evaluated 3 patients with acromegaly who developed heart failure. Heart failure appeared to be due to acromegalic cardiomyopathy in 2 patients who did not have hypertension or evidence of coronary artery disease, and it was possibly due to acromegalic cardiomyopathy combined with familiar hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 1 patient. The common echocardiographic findings in the present three cases were: 1) enlargement of the left atrium, 2) markedly dilated left ventricular cavity with diffuse hypokinesis, 3) decrease of indices of the left ventricular systolic function, and 4) no evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy. Echocardiographic findings in acromegaly with congestive heart failure resemble those of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.