A recent study suggests that the shape of the heart can predict future diseases.
On November 14, a research team from Queen Mary University of London, King’s College London, University of Zaragoza, University College London, and Coruña University Hospital published their findings in the international journal Nature Communications.
Previous studies primarily focused on the size and volume of the heart and specific ventricles. The research team examined both ventricles together to capture the heart’s multidimensional aspects. This approach led to discovering heart-related genes and expanded understanding of the biological pathways connecting heart shape and disease.
For this study, the researchers used cardiovascular MRI images of over 40,000 individuals from the U.K. Biobank to create 3D models of the ventricles. The database contains biomedical data from 500,000 U.K. residents.
Through statistical analysis, they identified 11 distinct shapes that explain significant changes in heart shape and subsequently revealed that 45 specific regions of the human genome correlate with heart shape.
Dr. Richard Burns, a statistical geneticist at Queen Mary University, stated that the study confirmed that genetics influenced heart shape and demonstrated that analyzing the shapes of both ventricles helps predict the risk of cardiometabolic diseases.
The research team identified 11 heart shapes and their associated diseases as follows:
1. Left Ventricular Hypertrophy: Heart failure and myocardial infarction
2. Left Ventricular Dilation: Heart failure
3. Right Ventricular Hypertrophy: Pulmonary hypertension and other lung diseases like COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
4. Right Ventricular Dilation: Pulmonary arterial hypertension and heart failure
5. Asymmetrical Heart: Congenital heart defects and arrhythmias
6. Myocardial Stiffness: Heart failure and hypertension
7. Thickened Ventricular Walls: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
8. Reduced Left Ventricular Contractility: Heart failure and myocardial infarction
9. Upper Heart Enlargement: Atrial fibrillation and heart valve disease
10. Abnormal Boundaries Between Ventricles: Ventricular septal and congenital heart defects.
11. Enlarged Cardiac Pathways: Coronary artery disease and arrhythmias.
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