Inflammation as a Driver of Adverse Left Ventricular Remodeling After Acute Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has improved significantly in recent years, but many patients have adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling, a maladaptive change associated with progressive heart failure. Although this change is usually associated with large infarcts, some patients with relatively small infarcts have adverse remodeling, whereas other patients with larger infarcts (who survive the first several days after AMI) do not. This paper reviews the relevant data supporting the hypothesis that individual differences in the intensity of the post-AMI inflammatory response, involving 1 or more inflammatory-modulating pathways, may contribute to adverse LV remodeling. It concludes by outlining how individual variations in the inflammatory response could provide important novel therapeutic targets and strategies.

Keywords: heart failure; infarct size; left ventricular function; stem cells.