Assessment of the Left Ventricle Remodeling in Pressure Loading in Children by Stress Echocardiography
<i>23 patients aged from 9 to 18 years old with aortic stenosis (systolic pressure gradient less than 30 mm Hg, effective orifice area more than 0.90 cm</i><sup><i>2</i></sup><i>/m</i><sup><i>2</i></sup><i>) were examined with purpose to investigate the left ventricle myocardial hypertrophy development. 12 patients of them were examined by the stress echocardiography (the 1</i><sup><i>st</i></sup><i> group). The examination data of the 12 healthy children (appropriate to the 1</i><sup><i>st</i></sup><i> group by sex, age, and total body area) was used as the control group (2</i><sup><i>nd</i></sup><i> group). The left ventricle posterior wall and interventricular septum thickness at rest in the 1</i><sup><i>st</i></sup><i> group exceeded the 95</i><sup><i>th</i></sup><i> percentile in 3 cases at diastole and in 5 cases at systole. There wasn't any significant difference between groups under stress in ventricular systolic function parameters (ejection fraction and shortening fraction), their dynamics, and achieved cardiac index. However more significant changes were revealed in the 1</i><sup><i>st</i></sup><i> group at systole: the left ventricle posterior wall and interventricular septum thickness exceeded the 95</i><sup><i>th</i></sup><i> percentile in 16 cases. In the same way increased values of relative left ventricular wall thickness at systole (р < 0.05 compared with the control group) and corrected double product (р < 0.01 compared with the control group) in the 1</i><sup><i>st</i></sup><i> group.</i>