Left Ventricular global longitudinal strain predicts heart failure readmission in acute decompensated heart failure

Factors influencing unplanned readmission within 30 days in patients with heart failure and their predictive value: a prospective study

BACKGROUND

Heart failure imposes a significant healthcare burden, with early unplanned readmissions post-discharge linked to poor outcomes. Identifying risk factors and their predictive value is crucial for targeted interventions.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate gender differences in cumulative hazard function and the factors influencing 30-day unplanned readmissions in heart failure patients, and to compare their predictive value.

METHODS

A prospective study of heart failure patients hospitalized in Beijing Hospital from October 2023 to March 2024. Patients' nutritional status was assessed using the Mini-Nutritional Assessment Scale Short Version (MNA-SF), frailty was evaluated using the Groningen Frailty Index (GFI), and the Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Mass Index (ASMI) was calculated. Multifactorial Cox regression analysis was conducted, and ROC curves were plotted for predictive modeling.

RESULTS

A total of 121 heart failure patients (60.3% males), aged (69.87 ± 11.9) years were included. With a median follow-up duration of 30 days, 25 (20.7%) patients with readmission. COX regression analysis stratified by gender showed that age, regular smoking, nutritional status, left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), brain natriuretic peptide(BNP), GFI, and ASMI were independent predictors of readmission within 30 days in patients with heart failure (P < 0.050). ROC curve analysis showed that age, BNP, ASMI, smoking status, LVEF, nutritional status, and GFI individually as well as in combination predicted readmission within 30 days in patients with heart failure; the joint model performed optimally, with an AUC value reaching 0.877 (95%CI 0.801 ∼ 0.952, P < 0.001), with a sensitivity of 0.920 and a specificity of 0.729.

CONCLUSION

A multifactorial approach including age, BNP, ASMI, smoking status, LVEF, nutritional status, and GFI predicts 30-day readmission risk, offering a basis for clinical intervention strategies to improve patient outcomes.

Echocardiographic assessment of patient hemodynamics in heart failure

Heart failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome which is due to cardiac structural and/or functional abnormalities that result in elevated intra-cardiac pressures and/or inadequate cardiac output. Hemodynamic assessment in HF allows the identification and characterization of cardiac dysfunction, systemic and/or pulmonary congestion and the eventual impairment of systemic perfusion which are fundamental to phenotype HF, risk stratify HF patients and to guide their treatment. Patient hemodynamics can be characterized invasively with right heart catheterization but also non-invasively with the use of echocardiography and other non-invasive ultrasound tools. The aim of the present review is to summarize the main echocardiographic and ultrasound parameters to characterize the hemodynamics of patients with HF and help clinicians to make the most of these non-invasive tools to guide HF patient management.

Global longitudinal strain as an early marker of cardiac damage after cardiotoxic medications, a state of the art review

Ejection fraction (EF) is the principal parameter used clinically to assess cardiac function and provides prognostic information. However, significant myocardial damage can be present despite preserved EF. Recently, the measurement of left ventricle (LV) deformation by global longitudinal strain (GLS) has been introduced as a novel early marker of cardiac dysfunction. Cardiotoxicity is a frequent side effect of several drugs most notably those used in the treatment of cancer. Although oncology drugs remain the best known cardiotoxic medications, many other drugs can potentially affect LV function. The early recognition of LV dysfunction due to cardiotoxicity is important and of increasing clinical relevance particularly with the rapid pace of development of new drugs. The aim of our review is to provide an overview of the current literature regarding utility of GLS to assess drug-induced myocardial damage. We propose that GLS is a sensitive early marker of myocardial dysfunction associated with the use of certain medications with high risk of cardiotoxicity. Thus, the use of this technique can potentially alert the clinician to myocardial toxicity before reductions in EF are seen.

Implications of myocardial strain in primary mitral regurgitation-a cardiovascular magnetic resonance study

AIMS

Chronic primary mitral regurgitation (MR) results in progressive left ventricular (LV) remodelling. Abnormal myocardial deformation (strain) can be present despite preserved ejection fraction (EF). Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) feature-tracking techniques allow assessment of global longitudinal strain (GLS) from routine cine images. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic value of CMR feature tracking-derived GLS in patients with primary MR.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Consecutive patients undergoing CMR for chronic MR from January 2012 to June 2018 were enrolled. Patients with LVEF <50% were excluded. The composite primary outcome aiming to detect decompensation related to MR comprised (i) referral for mitral surgery owing to symptoms or LV systolic dysfunction or (ii) cardiovascular death. The secondary outcome was all-cause death. A total of 422 patients were followed for a median of 2.7 years, and the primary endpoint was met in 93 patients (34 patients reported symptoms at baseline). At multivariable analysis, GLS≥ -16.6% was associated with primary outcome [hazard ratio (HR) 1.90, P = 0.01]. In moderate MR cohort, patients with GLS≥ -16.6% had worse event-free survival, whereas there was no significant difference in mild or severe MR groups. GLS≥ -16.0% remained associated with all-cause death after adjusting for other covariates including the MR severity (HR 2.24, P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

In patients with primary MR with preserved systolic function, GLS was associated with our composite outcomes and all-cause death. GLS may serve as a marker of cardiac dysfunction in the patients with primary MR with preserved systolic function allowing identification of patients likely to decompensate during observation.

The mitochondrial-targeted peptide therapeutic elamipretide improves cardiac and skeletal muscle function during aging without detectable changes in tissue epigenetic or transcriptomic age

Aging-related decreases in cardiac and skeletal muscle function are strongly associated with various comorbidities. Elamipretide (ELAM), a novel mitochondrial-targeted peptide, has demonstrated broad therapeutic efficacy in ameliorating disease conditions associated with mitochondrial dysfunction across both clinical and pre-clinical models. ELAM is proposed to restore mitochondrial bioenergetic function by stabilizing inner membrane structure and increasing oxidative phosphorylation coupling and efficiency. Although ELAM treatment effectively attenuates physiological declines in multiple tissues in rodent aging models, it remains unclear whether these functional improvements correlate with favorable changes in molecular biomarkers of aging. Herein, we investigated the impact of 8-week ELAM treatment on pre- and post- measures of C57BL/6J mice frailty, skeletal muscle, and cardiac muscle function, coupled with post-treatment assessments of biological age and affected molecular pathways. We found that health status, as measured by frailty index, cardiac strain, diastolic function, and skeletal muscle force are significantly diminished with age, with skeletal muscle force changing in a sex-dependent manner. Conversely, ELAM mitigated frailty accumulation and was able to partially reverse these declines, as evidenced by treatment-induced increases in cardiac strain and muscle fatigue resistance. Despite these improvements, we did not detect statistically significant changes in gene expression or DNA methylation profiles indicative of molecular reorganization or reduced biological age in most ELAM-treated groups. However, pathway analyses revealed that ELAM treatment showed pro-longevity shifts in gene expression such as upregulation of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism, mitochondrial translation and oxidative phosphorylation, and downregulation of inflammation. Together, these results indicate that ELAM treatment is effective at mitigating signs of sarcopenia and heart failure in an aging mouse model, but that these functional improvements occur independently of detectable changes in epigenetic and transcriptomic age. Thus, some age-related changes in function may be uncoupled from changes in molecular biological age.

Construction of risk prediction model for hyponatremia in patients with acute decompensated heart failure

BACKGROUND

Patients with Heart failure (HF) commonly have a water-electrolyte imbalance due to various reasons and mechanisms, and hyponatremia is one of the most common types. However, currently, there are very few local studies on hyponatremia risk assessment in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), and there is a lack of specific screening tools. The aim of this study is to identify a prediction model of hyponatremia in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and verify the prediction effect of the model.

METHODS

A total of 532 patients with ADHF were enrolled from March 2014 to December 2019. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the independently associated risk factors of hyponatremia in patients with ADHF. The prediction model of hyponatremia in patients with ADHF was constructed by R software, and validation of the model was performed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and calibration curves.

RESULTS

A total of 65 patients (12.2%) had hyponatremia in patients with ADHF. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that NYHA cardiac function classification (NYHA III vs II, OR = 12.31, NYHA IV vs II, OR = 11.55), systolic blood pressure (OR = 0.978), serum urea nitrogen (OR = 1.046) and creatinine (OR = 1.006) were five independent prognostic factors for hyponatremia in patients with ADHF. The AUC was 0.757; The calibration curve was near the ideal curve, which showed that the model can accurately predict the occurrence of hyponatremia in patients with ADHF.

CONCLUSIONS

The prediction model constructed in our study has good discrimination and accuracy and can be used to predict the occurrence of hyponatremia in patients with ADHF.

Association of left ventricular strain-volume loop characteristics with adverse events in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

AIMS

Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are characterized by impaired diastolic function. Left ventricular (LV) strain-volume loops (SVL) represent the relation between strain and volume during the cardiac cycle and provide insight into systolic and diastolic function characteristics. In this study, we examined the association of SVL parameters and adverse events in HFpEF.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In 235 patients diagnosed with HFpEF, LV-SVL were constructed based on echocardiography images. The endpoint was a composite of all-cause mortality and Heart Failure (HF)-related hospitalization, which was extracted from electronic medical records. Cox-regression analysis was used to assess the association of SVL parameters and the composite endpoint, while adjusting for age, sex, and NYHA class. HFpEF patients (72.3% female) were 75.8 ± 6.9 years old, had a BMI of 29.9 ± 5.4 kg/m2, and a left ventricular ejection fraction of 60.3 ± 7.0%. Across 2.9 years (1.8-4.1) of follow-up, 73 Patients (31%) experienced an event. Early diastolic slope was significantly associated with adverse events [second quartile vs. first quartile: adjusted hazards ratio (HR) 0.42 (95%CI 0.20-0.88)] after adjusting for age, sex, and NYHA class. The association between LV peak strain and adverse events disappeared upon correction for potential confounders [adjusted HR 1.02 (95% CI 0.96-1.08)].

CONCLUSION

Early diastolic slope, representing the relationship between changes in LV volume and strain during early diastole, but not other SVL-parameters, was associated with adverse events in patients with HFpEF during 2.9 years of follow-up.

Left Ventricular Segmental Strain Identifies Unique Myocardial Deformation Patterns After Intrinsic and Extrinsic Stressors in Mice

We used segmental strain analysis to evaluate whether intrinsic (diet-induced obesity [DIO]) and extrinsic (unpredictable chronic mild stress [UCMS]) stressors can alter deformational patterns of the left ventricle. Six-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were randomized into the lean or obese group (n = 24/group). Mice underwent 12 wk of DIO with a high-fat diet (HFD). At 18 wk, lean and obese mice were further randomized into UCMS and non-UCMS groups (UCMS, 7 h/d, 5 d/wk, for 8 wk). Echocardiography was performed at baseline (6 wk), post-HFD (18 wk) and post-UCMS (26 wk). Machine learning was applied to the DIO and UCMS groups. There was robust predictive accuracy (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.921) when comparing obese with lean mice, with radial strain changes in the lateral (-64%, p ≤ 0.001) and anterior free (-53%, p < 0.001) walls being most informative. The ability to predict mice that underwent UCMS, irrespective of diet, was assessed (AUC = 0.886), revealing longitudinal strain rate of the anterior midwall and radial strain of the posterior septal wall as the top features. The wall segments indicate a predilection for changes in deformation patterns to the free wall (DIO) and septal wall (UCMS), indicating disease-specific alterations to the myocardium.

Contractile Reserve in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Background: Diastolic stress echocardiography (SE) is useful for confirming the diagnosis of heart failure with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFpEF) when it is uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the value of new echocardiographic parameters during diastolic SE in patients with dyspnea and suspected HFpEF. Methods: Sixty-two patients with exertional dyspnea and inconclusive rest echocardiography for a diagnosis of HFpEF were enrolled. Exercise SE was performed in all patients. Contractile reserve (LVCR) was assessed by measuring: 1. changes in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) between rest and peak stress; 2. stress-to-rest ratio of force (force was defined as the ratio between systolic arterial pressure and left ventricular end-systolic volume); and 3. mechanical reserve, defined as the change in systolic strain (GLS) between rest and peak stress. Results: Diagnosis of HFpEF was performed by SE in 26 patients. Comparing patients with a diagnosis of HFpEF (group A) to patients with other causes of dyspnea (group B), we found a significant increase in the E/e’ ratio in group A at peak stress. LV GLS was significantly reduced in group A compared to group B at rest and stress (p value 0.01 at rest; p value 0.04 at stress). At peak stress, GLS did not significantly increase in group A, while it increased in group B (p value 0.04). LVEF increased significantly in both groups. Conclusion: Patients with HFpEF have impaired LVCR when assessed using GLS. Thus, the assessment of mechanical reserve could give additional diagnostic information during stress tests in patients with HFpEF.

Global Longitudinal Strain to Predict Respiratory Failure and Death in Patients Admitted for COVID-19-Related Disease

Evidence of the involvement of the cardiovascular system in patients with COVID-19 is increasing. The evaluation of the subclinical cardiac involvement is crucial for risk stratification at admission, and left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) may be useful for this purpose. A total of 87 consecutive patients admitted to the COVID Center were enrolled from December 2020 to April 2021. A complete echocardiography examination was performed within 72 hours from admission. The main outcome was the need for mechanical ventilation by way of orotracheal intubation (OTI) and mortality, and the secondary outcome was the worsening of the respiratory function during hospitalization, interpreted as a decrease of the ratio between the partial pressure of oxygen and the fraction of inspired oxygen (P/F) <100. Of 87 patients, 14 had severe disease leading to OTI or death, whereas 24 had a P/F <100. LVGLS was significantly impaired in patients with severe disease. After adjustment for risk factors, by considering LVGLS as continuous variable, the latter remained significantly associated with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (P/F <100) (hazard ratio [HR] 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18 to 1.88, p = 0.001) and OTI/death (HR 1.63, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.38, p = 0.012). When using an LVGLS cutoff of −16.1%, LVGLS ≥ −16.1% was independently associated with a higher risk of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (HR 4.0, 95% CI 1.4 to 11.1, p= 0.008) and OTI/death (HR 7.3, 95% CI 1.6 to 34.1, p = 0.024). LVGLS can detect high-risk patients at the admission, which can help to guide in starting early treatment of the admitted patients.

Myocardial mechanics in dilated cardiomyopathy: prognostic value of left ventricular torsion and strain

BACKGROUND

Data on the prognostic value of left ventricular (LV) morphological and functional parameters including LV rotation in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) are currently scarce. In this study, we assessed the prognostic value of global longitudinal strain (GLS), global circumferential strain (GCS), global radial strain (GRS) and LV torsion using CMR feature tracking (FT).

METHODS

CMR was performed in 350 DCM patients and 70 healthy subjects across 5 different European CMR Centers. Myocardial strain parameters were retrospectively assessed from conventional balanced steady-state free precession cine images applying FT. A combined primary endpoint (cardiac death, heart transplantation, aborted sudden cardiac death) was defined for the assessment of clinical outcome.

RESULTS

GLS, GCS, GRS and LV torsion were significantly lower in DCM patients than in healthy subjects (all p < 0.001). The primary endpoint occurred in 59 (18.7%) patients [median follow-up 4.2 (2.0-5.6) years]. In the univariate analyses all strain parameters showed a significant prognostic value (p < 0.05). In the multivariate model, LV strain parameters, particularly GLS provided an incremental prognostic value compared to established CMR parameters like LV ejection fraction and late gadolinium enhancement. A scoring model including six categorical variables of standard CMR and strain parameters differentiated further risk subgroups.

CONCLUSION

LV strain assessed with CMR FT has a high prognostic value in patients with DCM, surpassing routine and dedicated functional parameters. Thus, CMR strain imaging may contribute to the improvement of risk stratification in DCM.

Incremental prognostic value of global myocardial work over ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction

AIMS

Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) help identify heart failure (HF) patients who are at risk for adverse outcomes. This study aimed to determine whether global myocardial work (GMW), derived from non-invasive LV pressure-strain loops, can provide incremental prognostic information over EF and GLS in patients with HF and reduced EF (HFrEF).

METHODS AND RESULTS

We retrospectively analysed 508 patients (age 62.9 ± 15.8 years, 29.1% female) with LVEF ≤40%. The study endpoint was a composite of all-cause death and HF hospitalization. The incremental value of GMW over clinical and echocardiographic variables including EF and GLS for the association with the composite endpoint was assessed using Cox regression analyses. Over a 1-year follow-up, 183 patients reached the endpoint. Baseline variables associated with the endpoint were age, haemoglobin, LV end-systolic volume, New York Heart Association Class III or IV, E/e' ratio, pulmonary artery systolic pressure, EF, and GLS. Cox regression analysis revealed that GMW [hazard ratio (HR) 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-1.25, per 100-mmHg% decrease] added incremental prognostic value over these variables. Both EF and GLS were not independent variables when GMW was included in the model. Patients with GMW <750 mmHg% were associated with a significantly higher risk of all-cause death and HF hospitalization (HR 3.33, 95% CI 2.31-4.80) than patients with GMW ≥750 mmHg%.

CONCLUSION

In patients with HFrEF, GMW provides incremental prognostic information over EF and GLS regarding risk of all-cause death and HF hospitalization.

Left ventricular global longitudinal strain predicts elevated cardiac pressures and poor clinical outcomes in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND

Risk stratification in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NI-DCM) is essential to treatment planning. Global longitudinal strain (GLS) predicts poor prognosis in various cardiac diseases, but it has not been evaluated in a cohort of exclusively NI-DCM. Although deformation parameters have been shown to reflect diastolic function, their association with other hemodynamic parameters needs further elucidation. We aimed to evaluate the association between GLS and E/GLS and invasive hemodynamic parameters and assess the prognostic value of GLS and E/GLS in a prospective well-defined pure NI-DCM cohort.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Forty-one patients with NI-DCM were enrolled in the study. They underwent a standard diagnostic workup, including transthoracic echocardiography and right heart catheterization. During a five-year follow-up, 20 (49%) patients reached the composite outcome measure: LV assist device implantation, heart transplantation, or cardiovascular death. Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) correlated with GLS and E/GLS (p < 0.05). ROC analysis revealed that GLS and E/GLS could identify elevated PCWP (≥ 15 mmHg) and PVR (> 3 Wood units). Survival analysis showed GLS and E/GLS to be associated with short- and long-term adverse cardiac events (p < 0.05). GLS values above thresholds of -5.34% and -5.96% indicated 18- and 12-fold higher risk of poor clinical outcomes at one and five years, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that GLS is an independent long-term outcome predictor.

CONCLUSION

GLS and E/GLS correlate with invasive hemodynamics parameters and identify patients with elevated PCWP and high PVR. GLS and E/GLS predict short- and long-term adverse cardiac events in patients with NI-DCM. Worsening GLS is associated with incremental risk of long-term adverse cardiac events and might be used to identify high-risk patients.

The effect of external counterpulsation on intrinsic myocardial function evaluated by speckle tracking echocardiography in refractory angina patients: a randomized controlled trial

External Counterpulsation (ECP) is one of the therapeutic options in patients with refractory angina inadequately controlled by medical, interventional, or surgical therapy. The 2D Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (2D-STE) method is considered superior in assessing clinical improvement. We would like to evaluate any improvement of myocardial intrinsic function using 2D-STE in patients underwent standard ECP protocol (35 sessions). We conducted a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Patients with refractory angina who could not be revascularized conventionally were randomized into two groups: (1) the ECP group (300 mmHg) and (2) the Sham/control group (75 mmHg). ECP standard therapy was given for 35 sessions (1 h/day/session). The 2D-STE data, including longitudinal strain and post systolic index (PSI) were obtained before and after therapy. 43 subjects were analyzed, with 22 subjects in ECP group and 21 control subjects (Sham group). A homogenous baseline strain was found either globally (12.42 ± 4.55 vs 12.00 ± 4.92 [- %]; P = 0.774) or segmentally/regionally (12.63 (0.01-25.16) vs 12.43 (0.01-27.20) [- %]; P = 0.570). There was no statistically significant improvement between groups in the left ventricle longitudinal strain globally (P = 0.535) and segmentally/regionally (P = 0.434). PSI parameters showed improvement in the ECP group (P = 0.049), and segments with PSI ≥ 20% seemed to improve longitudinal strains in the ECP group after therapy (P = 0.042). In conclusion, 35 ECP therapy sessions did not improve either global or segmental/regional left ventricular mechanical function in patients with refractory angina. However, the mechanical function of myocardial segments with PSS tends to improve after ECP therapy.

The predictive value of global longitudinal strain in patients with heart failure mid-range ejection fraction

BACKGROUND

Heart failure (HF) with mid-range ejection fraction (HFmrEF) is defined as HF with a left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) of 41-49%. However, the change in LV function and the subsequent prognosis in these patients remain unclear. We aimed to investigate whether LV global longitudinal strain (LV GLS) could differentiate the changes in LVEF and predict the clinical outcomes in patients with HFmrEF.

METHODS

According to the changes in LVEF on follow-up echocardiography, 273 outpatients with HFmrEF were divided into 3 groups: HFwEF (HF with worse EF: <40%), HFsEF (HF with similar EF: 40-49%), and HFrecEF (HF with recovered EF: >50%). Further, the LV GLS at diagnosis was evaluated.

RESULTS

The average follow-up duration was 31 months. Among patients with HFmrEF, the more impaired the LV GLS at baseline, the higher probability of HFwEF development. In comparison with patients with HFwEF and HFsEF, those with HFrecEF had a lower risk of hospitalization for HF. At a cut-off value of -11%, LV GLS differentiated the subsequent risk of cardiovascular death in patients with HFmrEF. In Cox regression, patients with LV GLS >-11% had a high risk of cardiovascular death.

CONCLUSION

In patients with HFmrEF, LV GLS is associated with LVEF changes and subsequent cardiovascular death. Patients with HFrecEF had a lower risk of hospitalization for HF.

Left-Ventricular Function After 3 Months of Sacubitril-Valsartan in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

There is limited data on the effect of sacubitril-valsartan on the echocardiographic parameters in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). We prospectively enrolled 68 consecutive patients with ADHF who received sacubitril-valsartan (N = 34, S/V group) or angiotensin inhibition-based therapy (N = 34, ACEi/ARB group). Two-dimensional echocardiography with speckle tracking (2D-STE) was performed at baseline and after 3 months of treatment. Changes in 2D-STE parameters, including global longitudinal strain (GLS), were compared between the groups by t test and ANCOVA. Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups. Following 3 months of treatment, LVEF and GLS significantly improved in the S/V group (mean LVEF from 27 to 34.5% and GLS from - 6.6 to - 9.4%) but not in ACEi/ARB group. The improvement in LVEF and GLS was more prominent in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. In patients with ADHF 3-month treatment with sacubitril-valsartan, compared to guideline directed medical therapy without sacubitril, improves LVEF and GLS. Graphical Abstract A typical change in GLS in a patient with acute decompensated heart failure after 3 months of sacubitril-valsartan.

Global longitudinal strain is a hallmark of cardiac damage in mitral regurgitation: the Italian arm of the European Registry of mitral regurgitation (EuMiClip)

BACKGROUND

The search for reliable cardiac functional parameters is crucial in patients with mitral regurgitation (MR). In the Italian arm of the European Registry of MR, we compared the ability of global longitudinal strain (GLS) and left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) to detect cardiac damage in MR.

METHODS

Five hundred four consecutive patients with MR underwent a complete echo-Doppler exam. A total of 431, 53 and 20 patients had degenerative, secondary and mixed MR, respectively. The main echocardiographic parameters, including LV and left atrial (LA) size measurements, pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) and GLS were compared between patients with mild MR (n = 392) vs. moderate to severe MR (n = 112).

RESULTS

LVEF and GLS were related one another in the pooled population, and separately in patients with mild and moderate/severe MR (all p < 0.0001). However, a certain number of patients were above the upper or below the lower limits of the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the normal relation in the pooled population and in patients with mild MR. Only 2 patients were below the 95% CI in moderate to severe MR. After adjusting for confounders by separate multivariate models, LVEF and GLS were independently associated with LV and left atrial size in the pooled population and in mild and moderate/severe MR. GLS, but not LVEF, was also independently associated with PASP in patients with mild and moderate to severe MR.

CONCLUSIONS

Both LVEF and GLS are independently associated with LV and LA size, but only GLS is related to pulmonary arterial pressure. GLS is a powerful hallmark of cardiac damage in MR.

The Impact of Physiological Factors on 30-day Unplanned Rehospitalization in Adults with Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) patients have high rates of 30-day unplanned rehospitalization. This study assessed the impact of physiological factors on 30-day HF unplanned rehospitalization.

METHODS

The cross-sectional study used secondary data from electronic medical records of 270 patients.

RESULTS

Findings revealed several factor types were related to 30-day HF unplanned rehospitalization such as chronic kidney disease (p = 0.001), the use of CPAP machine (p = 0.028), and B-type natriuretic peptide (p = 0.050).

CONCLUSION

Many physiological factors were associated with 30-day HF unplanned rehospitalization. Identifying these factors will help health care providers to plan a variety of interventions that reduce 30-day HF unplanned rehospitalization.

Longitudinal wall fractional shortening: an M-mode index based on mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE) that correlates and predicts left ventricular longitudinal strain (LVLS) in intensive care patients

Background

Left ventricular longitudinal strain (LVLS) is a modern measurement for LV function. However, strain measurement is often difficult in critically ill patients. We sought to show LVLS can be estimated using M-mode-derived longitudinal wall fractional shortening (LWFS), which is less dependent on image quality and is easier to perform in critically ill patients.

Methods

Transthoracic echocardiographic records were retrospectively screened and 80 studies suitable for strain and M-mode measurements in the apical 4-chamber view were selected. Longitudinal wall fractional shortening was derived from conventional M-mode (LWFS) and curved anatomical M-mode (CAMMFS). The relationships between LVLS and mitral annular plane systolic excusion (MAPSE) and M-mode-derived fractional shortening were examined using univariate generalized linear model in a training set (n = 50) and was validated in a separate validation set (n = 30).

Results

MAPSE, CAMMFS, and LWFS demonstrated very good correlations with LVLS (r = 0.852, 0.875 and 0.909, respectively). LWFS was the best unbiased predictor for LVLS (LVLS = 1.180 x LWFS - 0.737, P < 0.001). Intra- and inter-rater agreement and reliability for LWFS measurement were good.

Conclusions

LVLS can be estimated by LWFS in the critically ill patients. It provides a fast and accurate prediction of LVLS. LWFS is a reproducible and reliable measurement which can be used as a potential index in place of LVLS in the critically ill population.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13054-017-1876-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.