Strategy to identify subjects with diabetes mellitus more suitable for selective echocardiographic screening: The DAVID-Berg study

Long-term outcomes of phenoclusters in preclinical heart failure with preserved and mildly reduced ejection fraction

AIMS

The identification of subjects at higher risk for incident heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (EF) suitable for more intensive preventive programmes remains challenging. We applied phenomapping to the DAVID-Berg population, comprising subjects with preclinical HF, aiming to refine HF risk stratification.

METHODS

The DAVID-Berg study prospectively enrolled 596 asymptomatic outpatients with EF > 40% with hypertension, diabetes mellitus or known cardiovascular disease. In this cohort, we performed an unsupervised cluster analysis on 591 patients, including clinical, laboratory, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic parameters. We tested the association between each cluster and a composite outcome of HF/death.

RESULTS

The median age was 70 years, 55.5% were males and the median EF was 61.0%. Phenomapping provided three different clusters. Subjects in Cluster 3 were the oldest and had the highest prevalence of atrial fibrillation, the lowest estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), the highest N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and the largest left atrium. During a median follow-up of 5.7 years, 13.4% of subjects experienced HF/death events (N = 79). Compared with Clusters 1 and 2, Cluster 3 had the worst prognosis (log-rank test: Cluster 3 vs. 1 P < 0.001; Cluster 3 vs. 2 P = 0.008). Cluster 3 was associated with a risk of HF/death 2.5 times higher than Cluster 1 [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 2.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24-4.90].

CONCLUSIONS

Based on phenomapping, older patients with lower kidney function and worse diastolic function might represent a subset of preclinical HF with EF > 40% who deserve more efforts to prevent clinical HF.

Risk stratifying asymptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction in the community: beyond left ventricular ejection fraction

AIMS

Midwall fractional shortening (MWFS) is a measure of left ventricular (LV) systolic function that is more reliable in case of concentric LV geometry compared to LV ejection fraction (LVEF). We hypothesized that MWFS might predict heart failure (HF) and death in a high-risk asymptomatic population, beyond other echocardiographic parameters.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Among 4047 subjects aged ≥55/≤80 years followed by 10 general practitioners in northern Italy, the DAVID-Berg study prospectively enrolled 623 asymptomatic outpatients at increased risk for HF. Baseline evaluation included clinical visit, electrocardiogram, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and echocardiogram. Mean age of the population was 69 ± 7 years, 56% were men, 88% had hypertension, mean LVEF was 61 ± 9%, and mean MWFS 16.2 ± 3.3. During a median follow-up of 5.7 years, 95 subjects experienced HF/death events. At Cox analysis, lower MWFS was the only echocardiographic parameter, among structural/functional ones, associated with higher risk of HF/death [hazard ratio (HR) 0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84-0.95, Padjusted < 0.001]. The risk of HF/death related to clinical data and NT-proBNP (baseline model) was reclassified by echocardiography only when MWFS was included into the model (baseline C-statistics 0.761; adding conventional structural/functional echocardiographic data 0.776, P = 0.09; adding MWFS 0.791, P = 0.007). Compared to subjects with normal LVEF and MWFS, only subjects with combined systolic dysfunction (11% of the population) were at higher risk (P = 0.001 for both abnormal; P > 0.24 for either LVEF or MWFS abnormal).

CONCLUSION

DAVID-Berg data suggest to include MWFS assessment in clinical practice, a simple and reliable echocardiographic parameter able to improve risk stratification in subjects at high risk for HF.

Integrating natriuretic peptides and diastolic dysfunction to predict adverse events in high-risk asymptomatic subjects

Background

Natriuretic peptides and diastolic dysfunction have prognostic value in asymptomatic subjects at risk for heart failure. Their integration might further refine the risk stratification process in this setting. Aim of this paper was to explore the possibility to predict heart failure and death combining diastolic dysfunction and natriuretic peptides in an asymptomatic population at risk for heart failure.

Methods

Among 4047 subjects aged ≥55/≤80 years followed by 10 general practitioners in Italy, the DAVID-Berg study prospectively enrolled 623 asymptomatic outpatients at increased risk for heart failure. Baseline evaluation included electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, and natriuretic peptides collection. Based on diastolic dysfunction and natriuretic peptides, subjects were classified in four groups: control group (no diastolic dysfunction/normal natriuretic peptides, 57%), no diastolic dysfunction/high natriuretic peptides (9%), diastolic dysfunction/normal natriuretic peptides (24%), and diastolic dysfunction/high natriuretic peptides (11%). We applied Cox multivariable and Classification and Regression Tree analyses.

Results

The mean age of the population was 69 ± 7 years, 44% were women, mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 61%, and 35% had diastolic dysfunction. During a median follow-up of 5.7 years, 95 heart failure/death events occurred. Overall, diastolic dysfunction and natriuretic peptides were predictive of adverse events (respectively, hazard ratio 1.91, confidence interval 1.19–3.05, padjusted = 0.007, and hazard ratio 2.25, confidence interval 1.35–3.74, padjusted = 0.002) with Cox analysis. However, considering the four study subgroups, only the group with diastolic dysfunction/high natriuretic peptides had a significantly worse prognosis compared to the control group (hazard ratio 4.48, confidence interval 2.31–8.70, padjusted &lt; 0.001). At Classification and Regression Tree analysis, diastolic dysfunction/high natriuretic peptides was the strongest prognostic factor (risk range 24–58%).

Conclusions

The DAVID-Berg data suggest that we look for the quite common combination of diastolic dysfunction/high natriuretic peptides to correctly identify asymptomatic subjects at greater risk for incident heart failure/death, thus more suitable for preventive interventions.

Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetes-Progress and Perspectives

In-depth understanding of early cardiovascular manifestations in diabetes is high on international research and prevention agendas given that cardiovascular events are the leading cause of death for diabetic patients. Our aim was to review recent developments in the echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) as a telltale pre-clinical disturbance preceding diabetic cardiomyopathy. We analyzed papers in which patients had been comprehensively assessed echocardiographically according to the latest LVDD guidelines (2016), and those affording comparisons with previous, widely used recommendations (2009). We found that the updated algorithm for LVDD is more effective in predicting adverse cardiovascular events in patients with established LVDD, and less specific in grading other patients (labelled "indeterminate"). This may prove instrumental for recruiting "indeterminate" LVDD cases among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in future screening programs. As an interesting consideration, the elevated values of the index E/e' can point to early diastolic impairment, foretelling diabetic cardiomyopathy. Identifying subclinical signs early makes clinical sense, but the complex nature of T2DM calls for further research. Specifically, longitudinal studies on rigorously selected cohorts of diabetic patients are needed to better understand and predict the subtle, slow onset of cardiac manifestations with T2DM as a complicating backdrop.