Analysis of myocardial deformation (myocardial strain) in patients with familial lipodystrophy

• Grant number: 18/22167-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2019
• End date: August 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Minna Moreira Dias Romano
• Grantee: Paula Ananda Chacon Inês
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Lipodystrophy is a rare disease characterized by loss of adipose tissue, which may present in a generalized or partial form. Its' etiology can be congenital or acquired, and there is an absence of energy storage, which causes an ectopic triglyceride deposition. The reduction in the triglycerides storage and it's ectopic deposition thereof are determinants of severity of clinical manifestation and complications such as insulin resistance, diabetes, fatty liver disease and, recently discovered, the cardiomyopathy. Cardiac alterations such as left ventricular hypertrophy or even a dilated cardiomyopathy have been described in patients with lipodystrophy. Evaluation of cardiac geometric and functional alterations although important, is not well explored clinically. Even with still preserved cardiac systolic functional indices like left ventricle ejection fraction, myocardial function can be damaged. Cardiac image methods as echocardiography have the potential to diagnose incipient myocardial damage with advanced techniques as Speckle Tracking. Speckle Tracking technique was already proven able to identify myocardial incipient damage in other cardiomyopathies but it was still not applied to lipodystrophy patients. This study is designed as a cross-sectional observational study to analyze echocardiographic examinations of a sample of patients with lipodystrophy. The left ventricle global longitudinal strain (GLS) will me quantificated. DICOM echocardiographic acquired images will be analyzed with a dedicated software (EchoPac GE) and GLS values will be compared to a sample of echocardiographic images from age-matched volunteers.