Concentric hypertrophy is a

hypertrophic Hypertrophy is the increase in the volume of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its component cells. It is distinguished from hyperplasia, in which the cells remain approximately the same size but increase in number.Updated by Linda J. ...

growth of a hollow organ without overall enlargement, in which the walls of the organ are thickened and its capacity or volume is diminished.

Sarcomere A sarcomere (Greek σάρξ ''sarx'' "flesh", μέρος ''meros'' "part") is the smallest functional unit of striated muscle tissue. It is the repeating unit between two Z-lines. Skeletal muscles are composed of tubular muscle cells (called mus ...

s are added in parallel, as for example occurs in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In the

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...

, concentric hypertrophy is related to increased

pressure overload Pressure overload refers to the pathological state of cardiac muscle in which it has to contract while experiencing an excessive afterload. Pressure overload may affect any of the four chambers of the heart, though the term is most commonly appl ...

of the heart, often due to hypertension and/or

aortic stenosis Aortic stenosis (AS or AoS) is the narrowing of the exit of the left ventricle of the heart (where the aorta begins), such that problems result. It may occur at the aortic valve as well as above and below this level. It typically gets worse ov ...

. The consequence is a decrease in ventricular compliance and

diastolic dysfunction Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a form of heart failure in which the ejection fraction – the percentage of the volume of blood ejected from the left ventricle with each heartbeat divided by the volume of blood when the l ...

, followed eventually by ventricular failure and systolic dysfunction. Laplace's law for a sphere states wall stress (T) is proportionate to the product of the transmural pressure (P) and cavitary radius (r) and inversely proportionate to wall thickness (W): In response to the pressure overload left ventricular wall thickness markedly increases—while the cavitary radius remains relatively unchanged. These compensatory changes, termed "concentric hypertrophy," reduce the increase in wall tension observed in aortic stenosis.

References

Anatomical pathology Physical exercise Exercise physiology Tissues (biology) Muscular system Cardiomegaly {{Pathology-stub