Structural and functional consequences of left ventricular hypertrophy regression.

左心室肥厚（LVH）是一种心肌壁增厚，发生于多种心血管疾病，包括高血压、冠状动脉疾病、心脏瓣膜疾病和心脏扩张。LVH的存在增加了心脏病发作、心力衰竭和死亡的风险。治疗这些疾病是我们不断上升的保健费用的一个主要组成部分。因此，LVH的逆转可能对个体患者和整个社会都有显著的益处。我们建议建立一种由心肌蛋白基因突变引起的LVH遗传形式的小鼠模型。该模型将使我们能够详细研究导致LVH的疾病过程以及逆转LVH的效果。这些信息对于确定治疗LVH患者的最佳方法将是非常宝贵的。

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a thickening of the heart muscle walls that occurs in a variety of cardiovascular diseases, including high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cardiac valve disorders and heart dilatation. The presence of LVH increases the risk of developing heart attacks, heart failure and death. Treatment of these disorders is a major component of our escalating health-care costs. Consequently, reversal of LVH may have significant benefits to individual patients and society in general. We propose to develop a mouse model of an inherited form of LVH that is caused by gene mutations in heart muscle proteins. This model will enable us to study in detail the disease processes that cause LVH and the effects of reversing LVH. This information will be invaluable for determining the best ways of treating patients with LVH.