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van Kleef LA, Sonneveld MJ, Zhu F, Ikram MA, Kavousi M, de Knegt RJ. Liver stiffness is associated with excess mortality in the general population driven by heart failure: The Rotterdam Study. Liver Int 2023; 43:1000-1007. [PMID: 36744819 DOI: 10.1111/liv.15538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Elevated liver stiffness reflects hepatic fibrosis but can also be secondary to venous congestion. We aimed to study the association between liver stiffness and mortality in the general population, stratified for heart failure and/or coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS We analysed individuals enrolled in the ongoing prospective population-based Rotterdam Study who attended a visit between 2009-2014 that included liver stiffness measurement. Exclusion criteria for the primary analysis were incomplete data on heart failure, unreliable liver stiffness, alcohol abuse and viral hepatitis, leaving 4.153 participants (aged 67.5 ± 8.4 years, 44.2% male) for analysis with a median follow-up of 6.0 (interquartile range: 5.1-7.0) years. Secondary analysis included participants with viral hepatitis, alcohol abuse and/or unreliable measurement. The association between liver stiffness and mortality was assessed using Cox regression. Associations between heart failure, CHD, and echocardiographic characteristics and liver stiffness were quantified with linear regression. RESULTS Liver stiffness ≥8.0 kPa was associated with mortality (aHR: 1.37, 95%CI: 1.00-1.89). However, this was driven by participants with heart failure (aHR: 2.48, 95%CI: 1.15-5.35), since high liver stiffness was not associated with mortality in participants without heart failure and/or CHD (aHR: 1.07, 95%CI: 0.70-1.64). Results were consistent when individuals with viral hepatitis, alcohol abuse or unreliable liver stiffness measurement were not excluded. Several cardiovascular characteristics were significantly associated with higher liver stiffness, e.g. heart failure, moderate/poor diastolic dysfunction, and right atrium diameter > 4.5 cm. CONCLUSION In our cohort of community-dwelling elderly, high liver stiffness was associated with excess mortality, primarily explained by participants with heart failure. Moreover, heart failure and its indicators were associated with increased liver stiffness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurens A van Kleef
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Milan J Sonneveld
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Fang Zhu
- Department of Cardiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - M Arfan Ikram
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Maryam Kavousi
- Department of Cardiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Robert J de Knegt
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Mangarova DB, Bertalan G, Jordan J, Brangsch J, Kader A, Möckel J, Adams LC, Sack I, Taupitz M, Hamm B, Braun J, Makowski MR. Microscopic multifrequency magnetic resonance elastography of ex vivo abdominal aortic aneurysms for extracellular matrix imaging in a mouse model. Acta Biomater 2022; 140:389-397. [PMID: 34818577 DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2021.11.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a permanent dilatation of the abdominal aorta, usually accompanied by thrombus formation. The current clinical imaging modalities cannot reliably visualize the thrombus composition. Remodeling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) during AAA development leads to stiffness changes, providing a potential imaging marker. 14 apolipoprotein E-deficient mice underwent surgery for angiotensin II-loaded osmotic minipump implantation. 4 weeks post-op, 5 animals developed an AAA. The aneurysm was imaged ex vivo by microscopic multifrequency magnetic resonance elastography (µMMRE) with an in-plane resolution of 40 microns. Experiments were performed on a 7-Tesla preclinical magnetic resonance imaging scanner with drive frequencies between 1000 Hz and 1400 Hz. Shear wave speed (SWS) maps indicating stiffness were computed based on tomoelastography multifrequency inversion. As control, the aortas of 5 C57BL/6J mice were examined with the same imaging protocol. The regional variation of SWS in the thrombus ranging from 0.44 ± 0.07 to 1.20 ± 0.31 m/s was correlated fairly strong with regional histology-quantified ECM accumulation (R2 = 0.79). Our results suggest that stiffness changes in aneurysmal thrombus reflect ECM remodeling, which is critical for AAA risk assessment. In the future, µMMRE could be used for a mechanics-based clinical characterization of AAAs in patients. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: To our knowledge, this is the first study mapping the stiffness of abdominal aortic aneurysms with microscopic resolution of 40 µm. Our work revealed that stiffness critically changes due to extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling in the aneurysmal thrombus. We were able to image various levels of ECM remodeling in the aneurysm reflected in distinct shear wave speed patterns with a strong correlation to regional histology-quantified ECM accumulation. The generated results are significant for the application of microscopic multifrequency magnetic resonance elastography for quantification of pathological remodeling of the ECM and may be of great interest for detailed characterization of AAAs in patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dilyana B Mangarova
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany; Department of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Veterinary Pathology, Freie Universität Berlin, Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 15, Building 12, Berlin 4163, Germany.
| | - Gergely Bertalan
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany.
| | - Jakob Jordan
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany.
| | - Julia Brangsch
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany.
| | - Avan Kader
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany; Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin 14195, Germany.
| | - Jana Möckel
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany.
| | - Lisa C Adams
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany.
| | - Ingolf Sack
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany.
| | - Matthias Taupitz
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany.
| | - Bernd Hamm
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany.
| | - Jürgen Braun
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany; Institute for Medical Informatics, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Hindenburgdamm 30, Berlin 12200, Germany.
| | - Marcus R Makowski
- Department of Radiology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany; Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, Munich 81675, Germany.
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Golemati S, Cokkinos DD. Recent advances in vascular ultrasound imaging technology and their clinical implications. ULTRASONICS 2022; 119:106599. [PMID: 34624584 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultras.2021.106599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In this paper recent advances in vascular ultrasound imaging technology are discussed, including three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS), contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and strain- (SE) and shear-wave-elastography (SWE). 3DUS imaging allows visualisation of the actual 3D anatomy and more recently of flow, and assessment of geometrical, morphological and mechanical features in the carotid artery and the aorta. CEUS involves the use of microbubble contrast agents to estimate sensitive blood flow and neovascularisation (formation of new microvessels). Recent developments include the implementation of computerised tools for automated analysis and quantification of CEUS images, and the possibility to measure blood flow velocity in the aorta. SE, which yields anatomical maps of tissue strain, is increasingly being used to investigate the vulnerability of the carotid plaque, but is also promising for the coronary artery and the aorta. SWE relies on the generation of a shear wave by remote acoustic palpation and its acquisition by ultrafast imaging, and is useful for measuring arterial stiffness. Such advances in vascular ultrasound technology, with appropriate validation in clinical trials, could positively change current management of patients with vascular disease, and improve stratification of cardiovascular risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Spyretta Golemati
- Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
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Gao J, Thai A, Lee J, Fowlkes JB. Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography and Doppler Sonography to Assess the Effect of Hydration on Human Kidneys: A Preliminary Observation. ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE & BIOLOGY 2020; 46:1179-1188. [PMID: 32081585 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2020.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2019] [Revised: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 01/13/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
To assess the feasibility of ultrasound imaging in depicting the changes in kidney size, hemodynamics and cortex viscoelasticity after hydration, we prospectively performed 2-D ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) and Doppler sonography of bilateral kidneys in 30 volunteers. Kidney length, cortex shear wave velocity (SWV), shear wave dispersion (SWD), interlobar artery peak systolic velocity (PSV), end-diastolic velocity (EDV) and resistive index (RI) were measured before and 60 min after with and without drinking water (1 L). The differences in kidney length, SWV, PSV, EDV and color pixel intensity before and after hydration were significant (p < 0.001), whereas these differences were not significant without hydration (p > 0.05). SWD and RI did not significantly differ with or without hydration. Inter- and intra-observer reliability in performing SWE and Doppler sonography was good. The use of Doppler sonography and ultrasound SWE to evaluate the effect of hydration on kidney size, hemodynamics and viscoelasticity seem to be feasible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Gao
- Rocky Vista University, Ivins, Utah, USA.
| | - Andy Thai
- Rocky Vista University, Ivins, Utah, USA
| | - Juhyun Lee
- Rocky Vista University, Ivins, Utah, USA
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