Echocardiographic Characterization of Myocardial Stiffness in Healthy Volunteers, Cardiac Amyloidosis, and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A Case-Control Study Using Multimodality Imaging

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive tools to measure myocardial stiffness are limited. Intrinsic cardiac elastography in echocardiography relates to myocardial stiffness by measuring the propagation of the myocardial stretch generated by atrial contraction. The aims of the present study were (1) to evaluate myocardial stiffness using intrinsic cardiac elastography in healthy volunteers versus those with myocardial diseases (ie, cardiac amyloidosis [CA] and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) and (2) to identify key factors that affect myocardial stiffness. METHODS: Tc-labeled pyrophosphate single-photon emission computed tomography in 10 participants. RESULTS: =0.056). CONCLUSIONS: Intrinsic cardiac elastography is a reliable noninvasive tool to measure myocardial stiffness. In this pilot study, it is related to imaging markers of interstitial expansion and amyloid burden.