Exploring myocardial stiffness

Abstract

About half of all heart failure in the elderly is a type of heart failure known as 'diastolic failure', which presents with symptoms of heart failure despite preserved contractility. Diastolic failure is caused by a stiff left ventricle that does not expand easily and has been investigated as increased stiffness and abnormal relaxation, respectively, but these have not been fully elucidated. Cardiac hypertrophy, in which the wall thickness of the heart increases, is one of the factors causing diastolic dysfunction. Using a model of cardiac hypertrophy, we examined the relationship between incomplete relaxation and increased stiffness, and evaluated the elasticity of the myocardium using ultrasound.