IMR Press / RCM / Volume 25 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2501023
Open Access Review
Septic Cardiomyopathy
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1 Faculty of Medicine, University J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek, 31000 Osijek, Croatia
2 Department of Heart and Vascular Diseases, University Hospital Centre Osijek, 31000 Osijek, Croatia
3 Department of Pulmology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Centre Osijek, 31000 Osijek, Croatia
4 Department of Endocrinology, University Hospital Centre Hospital Osijek, 31000 Osijek, Croatia
5 Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Merkur, Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
6 Department of Internal Medicine, General Hospital Vinkovci, 32100 Vinkovci, Croatia
*Correspondence: dr.lmaricic@gmail.com (Lana Maričić)
These authors contributed equally.
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2024, 25(1), 23; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2501023
Submitted: 8 October 2023 | Revised: 20 November 2023 | Accepted: 1 December 2023 | Published: 15 January 2024
(This article belongs to the Section Molecular and Cellular Cardiology)
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Sepsis is defined as a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction represents reversible myocardial dysfunction which ultimately results in left ventricular dilatation or both, with consequent loss of contractility. Studies on septic cardiomyopathy report a wide range of prevalence ranging from 10% to 70%. Myocardial damage occurs as a result of weakened myocardial circulation, direct myocardial depression, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondrial dysfunction is the leading problem in the development of septic cardiomyopathy and includes oxidative phosphorylation, production of reactive oxygen radicals, reprogramming of energy metabolism, and mitophagy. Echocardiography provides several possibilities for the diagnosis of septic cardiomyopathy. Systolic and diastolic dysfunction of left ventricular is present in 50–60% of patients with sepsis. Right ventricular dysfunction is present in 50–55% of cases, while isolated right ventricular dysfunction is present in 47% of cases. Left ventricle (LV) diastolic dysfunction is very common in septic shock, and it represents an early biomarker, it has prognostic significance. Right ventricular dysfunction associated with sepsis patients with worse early prognosis. Global longitudinal stress and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart are sufficiently sensitive methods, but at the same time MRI of the heart is difficult to access in intensive care units, especially when dealing with critically ill patients. Previous research has identified two biomarkers as a result of the integrated mitochondrial response to stress, and these are fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) and growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15). Both of the mentioned biomarkers can be easily quantified in serum or plasma, but they are difficult to be specific in patients with multiple comorbidities. Mitochondrial dysfunction is also associated with reduced levels of miRNA (microRNA), some research showed significance of miRNA in sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction, but further research is needed to determine the clinical significance of these molecules in septic cardiomyopathy. Therapeutic options in the treatment of septic cardiomyopathy are not specific, and include the optimization of hemodynamic parameters and the use of antibiotic thera-pies with targeted action. Future research aims to find mechanisms of targeted action on the initial mechanisms of the development of septic cardiomyopathy.

Keywords
septic cardiomyopathy
sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction
mitochondrial dysfunction
echocardiography
biomarker
fibroblast growth factor-21
growth differentiation factor-15
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