Myocardial Infarction After High-Dose Catecholamine Application-A Case Report From an Experimental Imaging Study

• Published in: Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine 2020-11, Vol.7, p.580296
• Main Authors: Beyhoff, Niklas, Lohr, David, Thiele, Arne, Foryst-Ludwig, Anna, Klopfleisch, Robert, Schreiber, Laura M, Kintscher, Ulrich
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cardiovascular Medicine; case report; catecholamines; diffusion tensor imaging; magnetic resonance imaging; myocardial infarction; speckle tracking
• ISSN: 2297-055X; 2297-055X
• DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2020.580296

Although heart failure following myocardial infarction (MI) represents a major health burden, underlying microstructural and functional changes remain incompletely understood. Here, we report on a case of unexpected MI after treatment with the catecholamine isoproterenol in an experimental imaging study in mice using different state-of-the-art imaging modalities. The decline in cardiac function was documented by ultrahigh-frequency echocardiography and speckle-tracking analyses. Myocardial microstructure was studied at a spatial resolution of 100 × 100 × 100 μm using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) and histopathologic analyses. Two weeks after ISO treatment, the animal showed an apical aneurysm accompanied by reduced radial strain in corresponding segments and impaired global systolic function. DT-MRI revealed a loss of contractile fiber tracts together with a disarray of remaining fibers as corresponding microstructural correlates. This preclinical case report provides valuable insights into pathophysiology and morphologic-functional relations of heart failure following MI using emerging imaging technologies.