Association between systolic ejection time and outcomes in heart failure by ejection fraction.

AIMS: Worsening heart failure (HF) is associated with shorter left ventricular systolic ejection time (SET), but there are limited data describing the relationship between SET and clinical outcomes. Thus, the objective was to describe the association between SET and clinical outcomes in an ambulatory HF population irrespective of ejection fraction (EF). METHODS AND RESULTS: We identified ambulatory patients with HF with reduced EF (HFrEF) and HF with preserved EF (HFpEF) who had an outpatient transthoracic echocardiogram performed between August 2008 and July 2010 at a tertiary referral centre. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between SET and 1-year outcomes. A total of 545 HF patients (171 HFrEF, 374 HFpEF) met eligibility criteria. Compared with HFpEF, HFrEF patients were younger [median age 60 years (25th-75th percentiles 50-69) vs. 64 years (25th-75th percentiles 53-74], with fewer females (30% vs. 56%) and a similar percentage of African Americans (36% vs. 35%). Median (25th-75th percentiles) EF with HFrEF was 30% (25-35%) and with HFpEF was 54% (48-58%). Median SET was shorter (280 ms vs. 315 ms, P < 0.001), median pre-ejection period was longer (114 ms vs. 89 ms, P < 0.001), and median relaxation time was shorter (78.7 ms vs. 93.3 ms, P < 0.001) among patients with HFrEF vs. HFpEF. Death or HF hospitalization occurred in 26.9% (n = 46) HFrEF and 11.8% (n = 44) HFpEF patients. After adjustment, longer SET was associated with lower odds of the composite of death or HF hospitalization at 1 year among HFrEF but not HFpEF patients. CONCLUSION: Longer SET is independently associated with improved outcomes among HFrEF patients but not HFpEF patients, supporting a potential role for normalizing SET as a therapeutic strategy with systolic dysfunction.

Echocardiographic Assessment of Right Ventricular Function and Response to Therapy in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Echocardiography is a key tool in the management of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), but many potential parameters could be used to assess response to therapy. In this retrospective study of 48 patients with severe PAH at baseline, we examined echocardiographic variables before and after initiation of PAH-specific therapy to evaluate which measures of right ventricular (RV) function best correlated with clinical response to therapy as assessed by 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) and 3-year all-cause mortality. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), mid-RV and basal-RV diameters, RV systolic pressure, and RV global longitudinal strain were all found to significantly improve after initiation of a PAH therapy. Decreases in right atrial area (r = -0.50, p = 0.002) and mid-RV diameter (r = -0.36, p = 0.03) were most strongly correlated with improvement in 6MWD. Pretreatment values of RA area (hazard ratio [HR] per 1 SD: 2.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58, 4.69), mid-RV diameter (HR 2.03; 1.20, 3.45), basal-RV diameter (HR 2.27; 1.40, 3.70), and RV global longitudinal strain (HR 2.36; 1.22, 4.56) were all associated with mortality risk. 6MWD and TAPSE were the 2 variables for which pretreatment measures (6MWD - HR 0.35; 0.17, 0.72; TAPSE - HR 0.41; 0.21, 0.82) and change with treatment (6MWD - HR 0.26; 0.10, 0.64; TAPSE - HR 0.40; 0.21, 0.77) were both significantly associated with 3-year mortality. Change in RV systolic pressure with treatment was significantly associated with mortality (HR 2.55; 1.23, 5.28,) but pretreatment baseline had no association (HR 1.48; 0.72, 3.06). Although many echocardiographic parameters change with initiation of PAH treatment, the strong association of both baseline TAPSE and change in TAPSE with mortality supports the ongoing use of TAPSE as an important measure in the assessment of disease severity and treatment response in PAH.

Right Ventricular Longitudinal Strain Reproducibility Using Vendor-Dependent and Vendor-Independent Software.

BACKGROUND: Right ventricular peak systolic longitudinal strain (RVLS) has emerged as an approach for quantifying right ventricular function in diseases such as pulmonary hypertension and congenital heart disease. A major limitation in applying RVLS is that strain imaging and analysis are proprietary, which may result in systematic differences from vendor to vendor. The goal of this study was to test the reproducibility of right ventricular strain analysis among selected vendor-specific software (VSS) and vendor-independent software (VIS) on images obtained from different ultrasound scanners, as would be common in clinical practice or in a multicenter clinical trial. METHODS: In this prospective, single-center study, 35 patients (5 healthy subjects and 30 with pulmonary hypertension) each underwent two echocardiographic scans, one using GE (Vivid E9) and the other using Philips (iE33) ultrasound systems. Images were analyzed using both VSS and VIS (TomTec) software for determination of RVLS. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to assess for any systematic differences among methods, as well as effects of scanner and software and a possible interaction between scanner and software for each strain measurement. RESULTS: Differences for global strains were not statistically significant among VSS packages (P ≥ .05), but some differences were noted between VSS and VIS. Wide variability between regional peak strain measurements was noted, but no systematic differences were found. CONCLUSIONS: Global RVLS values between VSS systems are not significantly different but may differ slightly from VIS. When comparing regional strain between VSS and VIS analyses, there is widespread variability without clear systematic differences.

ECG myocardial scar quantification predicts reverse left ventricular remodeling and survival after cardiac resynchronization therapy implantation: A retrospective pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: Electrocardiographic (ECG) LV scar quantification may improve prediction of CRT response. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were abstracted in 76 patients who underwent a first CRT implantation at 2 US centers. Selvester QRS scar quantification was performed using the LBBB modified QRS scoring method. Seven clinical variables previously associated with reverse LV remodeling (RLVR) and QRS score were included in logistic regression analysis. Survival was compared across QRS score quartiles using Kaplan-Meier curves. RLVR occurred more frequently in patients with QRS score ≤ 5 (63%) than QRS score>5 (22%), (OR=5.83, 95% CI=2.11-16.07). After adjustment for clinical variables using logistic regression, QRS score>5 predicted RLVR (Chi-square=20.3, P=0.005, AUC=0.782). Patients in the lowest quartile of QRS score (<4) had improved survival compared to patients in the other QRS score quartiles (P=0.037). CONCLUSION: ECG quantified LV scar predicts RLVR and long-term survival in patients with LBBB undergoing CRT implantation.