A Hyperkinetic Heart in Uncomplicated Active Acromegaly

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Abstract
: Cardiac function was studied by echocardiography in 12 patients with active acromegaly and in 12 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy control subjects. None of the patients had cardiovascular diseases or other endocrine diseases than acromegaly. The patients had a mean age of 39±5 years and were short‐term acromegalic with a mean duration of disease of 6±3 years. Mean left ventricular mass was 163±43 g/m2 in the acromegalic group versus 120±24 g/m2 in the control group. Preload (the diastolic diameter of the left ventricle) was within normal limits, while afterload (end‐systolic meridional wall stress) was significantly decreased in the acromegalic group. Myocardial contractility assessed as fractional shortening of the left ventricle was 39.9±3.6% in the acromegalic group versus 32.9±5.1% in the control group, and cardiac output was increased by 52% in the acromegalic group because of increased heart rate and stroke volume. We suggest that augmented peripheral blood flow is responsible for the condition of cardiac hyperkinesia in short‐term acromegaly and involved in the development of hypertension, which is a frequent complication of long‐term acromegaly.