Echocardiography Findings in Patients With Myocardial Fibrosis and Severe Aortic Stenosis

Patients with aortic stenosis waiting for aortic valve repair were investigated with echocardiography preoperatively, and a myocardial biospy was taken during the operation. We aim to perform a retrospective analysis of these data, to look for correlations between biopsy-verified myocardial fibrosis and echocardiography parameters. The patients also had cardiac magnetic resonance imaging performed, for a non-invasive quantification of myocardial fibrosis.

The primary purpose of the study is to retrospectively compare echocardiography measurements with a myocardial biopsy taken perioperatively in patients with aortic stenosis requiring aortic valve replacement. Echocardiography and endomyocardial biopsy have been performed in close proximity in time. Due to a small sample size and a large number of echocardiography measurements being possible, only a limited number of prespecified comparisons are performed. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was also performed in patients without contraindication, providing a non-invasive gold standard for diffuse fibrosis and replacement fibrosis. A secondary goal will be to investigate how echocardiography parameters performs compared to CMR in quantifying myocardial fibrosis.