Age and the effectiveness of anti-hypertensive therapy on improvement in diastolic function

Effect of Cardiac Rehabilitation on Left Ventricular Diastolic Function in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves symptoms and survival in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We studied the change of diastolic function and its prognostic impact after CR. After reviewing all consecutive AMI patients from January 2012 to October 2015, we analyzed 405 patients (mean, 63.7 ± 11.7 years; 300 males) with baseline and follow-up echocardiographic examinations. We divided them into three groups according to their CR sessions: No-CR group (n = 225), insufficient-CR group (CR < 6 sessions, n = 117) and CR group (CR ≥ 6 sessions, n = 63). We compared echocardiographic parameters of diastolic dysfunction including E/e' ratio > 14, septal e' velocity < 7 cm/s, left atrial volume index (LAVI) > 34 mL/m2, and maximal TR velocity > 2.8 m/s. At baseline, there were no significant differences in all echocardiographic parameters among the three groups. At follow-up echocardiographic examination, mitral annular e' and a' velocities were higher in the CR group (p = 0.024, and p = 0.009, respectively), and mitral E/e' ratio was significantly lower (p = 0.009) in the CR group. The total number of echocardiographic parameters of diastolic dysfunction at the baseline echocardiography was similar (1.29 vs. 1.41 vs. 1.52, p = 0.358). However, the CR group showed the lowest number of diastolic parameters at the follow-up echocardiography (1.05 vs. 1.32 vs. 1.50, p = 0.017). There was a significant difference between the No-CR group and CR group (p = 0.021). The presence of CR was a significant determinant of major adverse cardiovascular events in the univariate analysis (HR = 0.606, p = 0.049). However, the significance disappeared in the multivariate analysis (HR = 0.738, p = 0.249). In conclusion, the CR was significantly associated with favorable diastolic function, with the highest mitral e' and a' velocity, and the lowest mitral E/e' ratio and total number of echocardiographic parameters of diastolic dysfunction at the follow-up echocardiographic examinations in AMI patients.

Left ventricular functional, structural and energetic effects of normal aging: Comparison with hypertension

Objectives

Both aging and hypertension are significant risk factors for heart failure in the elderly. The purpose of this study was to determine how aging, with and without hypertension, affects left ventricular function.

Methods

Cross-sectional study of magnetic resonance imaging and ³¹P spectroscopy-based measurements of left ventricular structure, global function, strains, pulse wave velocity, high energy phosphate metabolism in 48 normal subjects and 40 treated hypertensive patients (though no other cardiovascular disease or diabetes) stratified into 3 age deciles from 50–79 years.

Results

Normal aging was associated with significant increases in systolic blood pressure, vascular stiffness, torsion, and impaired diastolic function (all P<0.05). Age-matched hypertension exacerbated the effects of aging on systolic pressure, and diastolic function. Hypertension alone, and not aging, was associated with increased left ventricular mass index, reduced energetic reserve, reduced longitudinal shortening and increased endocardial circumferential shortening (all P<0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that these unique hypertensive features were significantly related to systolic blood pressure (P<0.05).

Conclusions

1) Hypertension adds to the age-related changes in systolic blood pressure and diastolic function; 2) hypertension is uniquely associated with changes in several aspects of left ventricular structure, function, systolic strains, and energetics; and 3) these uniquely hypertensive-associated parameters are related to the level of systolic blood pressure and so are potentially modifiable.