Abstract 2085: Increased Regional Coronary Vascular Resistance During Hyperemia in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Is Associated with Reduced Myocardial Blood Volume

Abstract

Introduction: In patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ( HCM ), myocardial blood flow ( MBF ) is decreased during hyperemia because of high coronary vascular resistance. Recently myocardial blood volume ( MBV ) can be estimated in vivo using myocardial contrast echocardiography ( MCE ) with the compensation for acoustic field inhomogeneity. The relationship between MBV and coronary resistance, however, has not been investigated. We thus assessed the hypothesis that increased regional coronary vascular resistance during hyperemia in HCM is associated with reduced MBV. Methods: In 13 patients with HCM ( H , 53±16 years) with asymmetric septal hypertrophy and 9 normal volunteers ( N , 54±11 years), MCE was performed under infusion of Levovist at rest and during hyperemia induced by ATP. Apical 4-chamber views of intermittent harmonic power Doppler imaging were acquired at end-diastole of every sixth beat. MBV was calculated as 10 X/10 ×100%, where X was myocardial contrast intensity minus contrast intensity of the adjacent intracavity blood pool in dB. 15 O-water PET was performed to measure regional MBF. These parameters were measured in the interventricular septum ( IVS ) and LV posterolateral ( PL ) wall. Regional coronary vascular resistance was calculated as (mean blood pressure)/MBF. Results: Wall thickness was significantly greater in H than in N (IVS: 19±4 vs 10±1 mm, p<0.0001; PL: 10±1 vs 9±1 mm, p<0.05). MBV of IVS was lower in H than in N (rest: 2.1±0.7 vs 3.5±1.1%, p<0.01; hyperemia: 2.1±1.3 vs 4.3±1.7%, p<0.01), whereas MBV of PL wall did not differ between groups. Coronary resistance at rest did not differ between groups, but the resistance during hyperemia was significantly greater in H than in N (IVS: 59±16 vs 31±14 mmHg·min·g·ml −1 , p<0.001; PL: 40±10 vs 30±11 mmHg·min·g·ml −1 , p<0.05). Coronary resistance at rest did not correlate with MBV, whereas that during hyperemia inversely correlated with MBV during hyperemia (r=−0.77, p<0.0001) as well as MBV at rest (r=−0.65, p<0.0001). Conclusions: Increased coronary vascular resistance during hyperemia in HCM was significantly associated with reduced MBV. MCE is useful for assessing the dynamic function of coronary circulation in the clinical setting.