Use of end-systolic volume changes with exercise to detect left ventricular dysfunction in patients with coronary artery disease

Increase in end-systolic volume after exercise independently predicts mortality in patients with coronary heart disease: data from the Heart and Soul Study

AIMS

The predictive value of changes in global left ventricular (LV) size after exercise has not been studied. Left ventricular end-systolic volume (ESV) is a relatively load-independent echocardiographic marker of contractility that is easily measured. We investigated the role of the change in ESV at rest and after peak exercise on mortality among patients with stable coronary heart disease (CHD).

METHODS AND RESULTS

We performed exercise treadmill testing with stress echocardiography in 934 ambulatory subjects with CHD. End-systolic volume was measured immediately before and after exercise using 2D echocardiography. We defined ESV reversal as an increase in ESV after exercise, and we examined the association of ESV reversal with all-cause mortality during a median follow-up of 3.92 years. Of the 934 participants, 199 (21%) had ESV reversal. At the end of follow-up, mortality was higher among participants with ESV reversal than those without (26 vs. 11%; P < 0.001). After adjustment for clinical covariates, ESV reversal remained predictive of all-cause mortality (HR 2.0; 95% CI 1.4-2.9; P = 0.001). The association of ESV reversal with mortality also persisted after adjustment for exercise-induced wall-motion abnormalities (HR 1.7; 95% CI 1.1-2.3, P = 0.006). To determine if the effect of ESV reversal was independent from other echocardiographic measurements, we created a separate model adjusting for resting LV ejection fraction, ESV, end-diastolic volume, and LV mass. End-systolic volume reversal was the only significant predictor of mortality in this model (HR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.0, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

End-systolic volume reversal is a novel parameter that independently predicts mortality in patients with CHD undergoing exercise treadmill echocardiography, even after adjustment for a wide range of clinical, echocardiographic, and treadmill exercise variables. Because measurement of ESV is simple, reproducible, and requires no additional imaging views, identification of ESV reversal during exercise echocardiography can provide useful complementary information for risk stratification.

Prognostic value of left ventricular end-systolic volume index as a predictor of heart failure hospitalization in stable coronary artery disease: data from the Heart and Soul Study

OBJECTIVE

Left ventricular (LV) end-systolic volume indexed to body surface area (ESVI) is a simple yet powerful echocardiographic marker of LV remodeling that can be measured easily. The prognostic value of ESVI and its merit relative to other markers of LV remodeling in patients with coronary heart disease are unknown.

METHODS

We examined the association of ESVI with hospitalization for heart failure (HF) and mortality in a prospective study of patients with coronary heart disease.

RESULTS

Of the 989 participants, 110 (11%) were hospitalized for HF during 3.6 +/- 1.1 years of follow-up. Among participants in the highest ESVI quartile (> 25 mL/m(2)), 67 of 248 (27%) developed HF compared with 8 of 248 (3%) among those in the lowest quartile. The association between ESVI and HF hospitalization persisted after adjustment for potential confounders (hazard ratio 5.0, 95% confidence interval, 1.5-16.9; P = .01).

CONCLUSION

ESVI > 25 mL/m(2) is an independent predictor of hospitalization for HF in patients with stable coronary heart disease.