Fractal Analysis of Right Ventricular Trabeculae in Pulmonary Hypertension.

Purpose To measure right ventricular (RV) trabecular complexity by its fractal dimension (FD) in healthy subjects and patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) and to assess its relationship with hemodynamic and functional parameters and future cardiovascular events. Materials and Methods This retrospective study used data acquired from May 2004 to October 2013 in 256 patients with newly diagnosed PH who underwent cardiac MRI, right-sided heart catheterization, and 6-minute walk distance testing, with median follow-up of 4.0 years. A total of 256 healthy control subjects underwent cardiac MRI only. Biventricular FD, volumes, and function were assessed on short-axis cine images. Reproducibility was assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient, correlation between variables was assessed with the Pearson correlation test, and mortality prediction was compared by using uni- and multivariable Cox regression analyses. Results RV FD reproducibility had an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.97 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.96, 0.98). RV FD was higher in patients with PH (median, 1.310; interquartile range [IQR], 1.281-1.341) than in healthy subjects (median, 1.264; IQR, 1.242-1.295; P < .001), with the greatest difference near the apex. RV FD was associated with pulmonary vascular resistance (r = 0.30, P < .001). At univariable Cox regression analysis, RV FD was a significant predictor of death (hazard ratio [HR], 1.256; 95% CI: 1.011, 1.560; P = .04); however, at multivariable analysis, RV FD did not enable prediction of survival independently of conventional parameters of RV remodeling (HR, 1.179; 95% CI: 0.871, 1.596; P = .29). Conclusion Fractal analysis of RV trabecular complexity is a highly reproducible measure of remodeling in patients with PH that is associated with afterload, although the gain in survival prediction over traditional markers is not significant. Published under a CC BY 4.0 license. Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Machine Learning of Three-dimensional Right Ventricular Motion Enables Outcome Prediction in Pulmonary Hypertension: A Cardiac MR Imaging Study.

Purpose To determine if patient survival and mechanisms of right ventricular failure in pulmonary hypertension could be predicted by using supervised machine learning of three-dimensional patterns of systolic cardiac motion. Materials and Methods The study was approved by a research ethics committee, and participants gave written informed consent. Two hundred fifty-six patients (143 women; mean age ± standard deviation, 63 years ± 17) with newly diagnosed pulmonary hypertension underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, right-sided heart catheterization, and 6-minute walk testing with a median follow-up of 4.0 years. Semiautomated segmentation of short-axis cine images was used to create a three-dimensional model of right ventricular motion. Supervised principal components analysis was used to identify patterns of systolic motion that were most strongly predictive of survival. Survival prediction was assessed by using difference in median survival time and area under the curve with time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analysis for 1-year survival. Results At the end of follow-up, 36% of patients (93 of 256) died, and one underwent lung transplantation. Poor outcome was predicted by a loss of effective contraction in the septum and free wall, coupled with reduced basal longitudinal motion. When added to conventional imaging and hemodynamic, functional, and clinical markers, three-dimensional cardiac motion improved survival prediction (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.73 vs 0.60, respectively; P < .001) and provided greater differentiation according to difference in median survival time between high- and low-risk groups (13.8 vs 10.7 years, respectively; P < .001). Conclusion A machine-learning survival model that uses three-dimensional cardiac motion predicts outcome independent of conventional risk factors in patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary hypertension. Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Supplementation with Iron in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Two Randomized Crossover Trials.

Rationale: Iron deficiency, in the absence of anemia, is common in patients with idiopathic and heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and is associated with a worse clinical outcome. Oral iron absorption may be impeded by elevated circulating hepcidin concentrations. The safety and benefit of parenteral iron replacement in this patient population is unclear. Objectives: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of parenteral iron replacement in PAH. Methods: In two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 12-week crossover studies, 39 patients in Europe received a single infusion of ferric carboxymaltose (Ferinject) (1,000 mg or 15 mg/kg if weight <66.7 kg) or saline as placebo, and 17 patients in China received iron dextran (Cosmofer) (20 mg iron/kg body weight) or saline placebo. All patients had idiopathic or heritable PAH and iron deficiency at entry as defined by a serum ferritin <37 µg/L or iron <10.3 µmol/L or transferrin saturations <16.4%. Results: Both iron treatments were well tolerated and improved iron status. Analyzed separately and combined, there was no effect on any measure of exercise capacity (using cardiopulmonary exercise testing or 6-minute walk test) or cardiopulmonary hemodynamics, as assessed by right heart catheterization, cardiac magnetic resonance, or plasma NT-proBNP (N-terminal-pro hormone brain natriuretic peptide) at 12 weeks. Conclusions: Iron repletion by administration of a slow-release iron preparation as a single infusion to patients with PAH with iron deficiency without overt anemia was well tolerated but provided no significant clinical benefit at 12 weeks. Clinical trial registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01447628).

Supplementation of iron in pulmonary hypertension: Rationale and design of a phase II clinical trial in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Our aim is to assess the safety and potential clinical benefit of intravenous iron (Ferinject) infusion in iron deficient patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). Iron deficiency in the absence of anemia (1) is common in patients with IPAH; (2) is associated with inappropriately raised levels of hepcidin, the key regulator of iron homeostasis; and (3) correlates with disease severity and worse clinical outcomes. Oral iron absorption may be impeded by reduced absorption due to elevated hepcidin levels. The safety and benefits of parenteral iron replacement in IPAH are unknown. Supplementation of Iron in Pulmonary Hypertension (SIPHON) is a Phase II, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial of iron in IPAH. At least 60 patients will be randomized to intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (Ferinject) or saline placebo with a crossover point after 12 weeks of treatment. The primary outcome will be the change in resting pulmonary vascular resistance from baseline at 12 weeks, measured by cardiac catheterization. Secondary measures include resting and exercise hemodynamics and exercise performance from serial bicycle incremental and endurance cardiopulmonary exercise tests. Other secondary measurements include serum iron indices, 6-Minute Walk Distance, WHO functional class, quality of life score, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and cardiac anatomy and function from cardiac magnetic resonance. We propose that intravenous iron replacement will improve hemodynamics and clinical outcomes in IPAH. If the data supports a potentially useful therapeutic effect and suggest this drug is safe, the study will be used to power a Phase III study to address efficacy.