Sebastiaan Dhont, Wouter L'Hoyes, Sara Moura Ferreira, Pieter Martens, Jan Stassen, Guido Claessen, Sarah Stroobants, Siddharth Jogani, Ruta Jasaityte, Lieven Herbots, Jan Verwerft, Philippe B Bertrand
{"title":"Atrial Functional Mitral Regurgitation and Exercise-Induced Changes in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.","authors":"Sebastiaan Dhont, Wouter L'Hoyes, Sara Moura Ferreira, Pieter Martens, Jan Stassen, Guido Claessen, Sarah Stroobants, Siddharth Jogani, Ruta Jasaityte, Lieven Herbots, Jan Verwerft, Philippe B Bertrand","doi":"10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.07.016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.07.016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Atrial functional mitral regurgitation (AFMR) is prevalent among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and associated with adverse outcome, yet this bidirectional association remains underexplored.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The purpose of this study was to elucidate the pathophysiological and prognostic significance of AFMR in HFpEF, both at rest and during exercise.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this multicenter cohort study, consecutive patients with HFpEF underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing with echocardiography, with a particular focus on mitral regurgitation (MR) severity assessment in rest and during exercise. Longitudinal follow-up included cardiovascular hospitalizations and all-cause mortality.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study involved 429 patients with HFpEF (age 74 ± 8years, 65% female). AFMR was observed in 35% of patients at rest (24% mild, 11% ≥ moderate). Increasing AFMR severity correlated with atrial fibrillation, larger left atrium volumes, reduced left atrial function, lower peak oxygen consumption, and increased exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension. After adjusting for age, sex, ventricular and atrial volume and function, moderate or severe MR remained linked with worse outcomes (HR: 4.03; 95% CI: 2.26-7.21; P < 0.001). During exercise, MR severity increased in 12% of patients based on guideline-based thresholds. Notably, even in patients without formal reclassification, an absolute increase in effective regurgitant orifice area ≥5 mm<sup>2</sup> during exercise was independently predictive of adverse outcomes (HR: 2.43; 95% CI 1.34-4.41; P = 0.004). This increase was not related to systemic blood pressure, chronotropic incompetence, or left ventricular dysfunction.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>AFMR is common in HFpEF and independently associated with adverse outcomes when moderate or severe at rest. Even mild, exercise-induced increases carry additional prognostic value, underscoring the relevance of both resting and dynamic AFMR assessment.</p>","PeriodicalId":14767,"journal":{"name":"JACC. Cardiovascular imaging","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145023386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coronary Plaque Volume in an Asymptomatic Population: Miami Heart Study at Baptist Health South Florida.","authors":"Keishi Ichikawa,Shai Ronen,Rachelle Bishay,Srikanth Krishnan,Travis Benzing,Sina Kianoush,Jairo Aldana-Bitar,Miguel Cainzos-Achirica,Theodore Feldman,Jonathan Fialkow,Matthew J Budoff,Khurram Nasir","doi":"10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.08.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUNDCoronary computed tomography angiography (CTA)-derived plaque burden is associated with the risk of cardiovascular events and is expected to be used in clinical practice. Understanding the normative values of computed tomography-based quantitative plaque volume in the general population is clinically important for determining patient management.OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to investigate the distribution of plaque volume in the general population and to develop nomograms using MiHEART (Miami Heart Study) at Baptist Health South Florida, a large community-based cohort study.METHODSThe study included 2,301 asymptomatic subjects without cardiovascular disease enrolled in MiHEART. Quantitative assessment of plaque volume was performed by using artificial intelligence-guided quantitative coronary computed tomography angiography (AI-QCT) analysis. The percentiles of the plaque distribution were estimated with nonparametric techniques.RESULTSMean age of the participants was 53.5 years, and 50.4% were male. The median total plaque volume was 54 mm3 (Q1-Q3: 16-126 mm3) and increased with age. Male subjects had greater median total plaque volume than female subjects (80 mm3 [Q1-Q3: 31-181 mm3] vs 34 mm3 [Q1-Q3: 9-85 mm3]; P < 0.001); there was no difference according to race/ethnicity (Hispanic 53 mm3 [Q1-Q3: 14-119 mm3] vs non-Hispanic 54 mm3 [Q1-Q3: 17-127 mm3]; P = 0.756). The prevalence of subjects with total plaque volume ≥20 mm3 was 81.5% in male subjects and 61.9% in female subjects. Younger individuals had a greater percentage of noncalcified plaque.CONCLUSIONSThe large majority of study subjects had plaque detected by using AI-QCT. Furthermore, age- and sex-specific nomograms provided information on the plaque volume distribution in an asymptomatic population. (Miami Heart Study [MiHEART] at Baptist Health South Florida; NCT02508454).","PeriodicalId":14767,"journal":{"name":"JACC. Cardiovascular imaging","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145008784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Prognostic Relevance and Lower Limit of the Reference Range of Left Ventricular Global Longitudinal Strain","authors":"Nijat Rzayev MD, Maham Khan MD, Laiba Khan MD, Mahmood Ahmad MD","doi":"10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.05.024","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.05.024","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":14767,"journal":{"name":"JACC. Cardiovascular imaging","volume":"18 9","pages":"Page 1065"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144933932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sihao Liang MM , Peng Hou MM , Xuezhu Wang MD , Wanmei Liang MM , Shaonan Zhong MM , Ruiyue Zhao MD , Miao Ke MM , Youcai Li MM , Yimin Fu BS , Huizhen Zhong BS , Chang Sun MD , Hanzhao Li MD , Daxin Guo MD , Yunqi Liu MD , Xinlu Wang MD
{"title":"Comparison of 18F-FAPI-42 PET for Detecting Cardiac Fibroblast Activation in Dilated Cardiomyopathy With Histopathology and CMR","authors":"Sihao Liang MM , Peng Hou MM , Xuezhu Wang MD , Wanmei Liang MM , Shaonan Zhong MM , Ruiyue Zhao MD , Miao Ke MM , Youcai Li MM , Yimin Fu BS , Huizhen Zhong BS , Chang Sun MD , Hanzhao Li MD , Daxin Guo MD , Yunqi Liu MD , Xinlu Wang MD","doi":"10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.05.021","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.05.021","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is a key pathophysiological characteristic of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Radiolabeled imaging agents targeting fibroblast activation protein (FAP) enhance the accuracy and sensitivity for detecting early-stage myocardial fibrosis.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using <sup>18</sup>F-labeled FAP inhibitor tracer (FAPI-42) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for detecting myocardial fibroblast activation and fibrosis in DCM patients.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>In total, 19 DCM patients underwent <sup>18</sup>F-FAPI-42 PET/computed tomography imaging, with 14 also underwent cardiac PET/cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Four patients underwent cardiac transplantation within 9 to 124 days after PET scans. Control groups were enrolled to establish the normal range of <sup>18</sup>F-FAPI activity and CMR parameters. Spearman correlation analysis assessed correlations between <sup>18</sup>F-FAPI uptake, the degree of collagen fiber deposition and FAP fluorescence, cardiac function parameters obtained from echocardiography, and PET/CMR.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div><sup>18</sup>F-FAPI PET imaging revealed varying degrees of FAPI uptake across diverse regions of the myocardium in DCM patients, significantly higher than the control group. <sup>18</sup>F-FAPI-42 PET identified more abnormal segments (n = 168) than CMR-LGE (n = 95). Furthermore, in FAPI-positive segments, the T<sub>1</sub>-postcontrast values and extracellular volume % were higher than in FAPI-negative segments (n = 56). Additionally, the myocardial long-axis radial PS% capacity was more severely impaired. In heart transplant patients, the FAPI uptake strongly correlated with FAP mean fluorescence intensity (<em>P <</em> 0.001) and collagen fiber deposition (<em>P <</em> 0.05). The FAPI uptake also correlated with cardiac function parameters assessed by CMR (end-systolic volume, end-diastolic volume, left ventricular ejection fraction %, and extracellular volume %). As NYHA functional class progressed from Ⅱ to Ⅳ, metabolically active volume increased consistently. However, maximum standardized uptake value and total lesion FAPI initially increasing and then subsequently declining.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div><sup>18</sup>F-FAPI PET is capable of detecting fibroblast activation in the myocardium of DCM, strongly correlating with histological markers and cardiac function parameters. Metabolically active volume is an effective indicator for assessing the condition of DCM, whereas maximum standardized uptake value and total lesion FAPI may potentially offer prognosis values.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14767,"journal":{"name":"JACC. Cardiovascular imaging","volume":"18 9","pages":"Pages 997-1009"},"PeriodicalIF":15.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144747824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}