Pathophysiologic and prognostic importance of cardiac power output reserve in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

AIMS: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a syndrome characterized by multiple cardiac reserve limitations during exercise. Cardiac power output (CPO) is an index of global cardiac performance and can be estimated non-invasively by echocardiography. We hypothesized that CPO reserve during exercise would be associated with impaired cardiovascular reserve, exercise intolerance, and adverse outcomes in HFpEF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Exercise stress echocardiography was performed in 425 dyspnoeic patients [217 HFpEF and 208 non-heart failure (HF) controls] to estimate CPO at rest and during exercise. We classified patients with HFpEF based on the median value of changes in CPO from rest to peak exercise (ΔCPO >0.49 W/100 g). Patients with HFpEF and a lower CPO reserve had poorer biventricular systolic function, impaired chronotropic response during exercise, and worse aerobic capacity than controls and those with a higher CPO reserve. During a median follow-up of 358 days, a composite outcome of all-cause mortality or HF events occurred in 30 patients. Patients with a lower CPO reserve had four-fold and nearly 10-fold increased risks of the outcomes compared with those with a higher CPO reserve and controls, respectively [hazard ratio (HR) 4.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16-10.1, P = 0.003 and HR 9.61, 95% CI 3.58-25.8, P < 0.0001]. We further found that a lower CPO reserve had an incremental prognostic value over the H2FPEF score and exercise duration. In contrast, resting CPO did not predict clinical outcomes in patients with HFpEF. CONCLUSION: A lower CPO reserve was associated with biventricular systolic dysfunction, chronotropic incompetence, exercise intolerance, and adverse outcomes in patients with HFpEF.

Prognostic utility of cardiopulmonary exercise testing with simultaneous exercise echocardiography in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

AIMS: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) combined with exercise echocardiography (CPETecho) allows simultaneous assessments of cardiac, pulmonary, and ventilation in heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). This study sought to determine whether simultaneous assessment of CPET variables could provide additive predictive value over exercise stress echocardiography in patients with dyspnoea. METHODS AND RESULTS: CPETecho was performed in 443 patients with suspected HFpEF (240 HFpEF and 203 controls without HF). Patients with HFpEF were divided based on peak oxygen consumption (VO2, ≥10 or <10 ml/min/kg) or the slope of minute ventilation to carbon dioxide production (VE vs. VCO2 slope ≥45.0 or <45.0). The primary endpoint was defined as a composite of all-cause mortality, HF hospitalization, unplanned hospital visits requiring intravenous diuretics, or intensification of oral diuretics. During a median follow-up of 399 days, the composite outcome occurred in 57 patients. E/e' ratio during peak exercise was associated with adverse outcomes. Patients with HFpEF and lower peak VO2 had increased risks of the composite event (hazard ratio [HR] 5.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.65-9.62, p < 0.0001 vs. controls; HR 3.14, 95% CI 1.69-5.84, p = 0.0003 vs. HFpEF with higher peak VO2). Elevated VE versus VCO2 slope was also associated with adverse events in HFpEF. The addition of either the presence of abnormal peak VO2 or VE versus VCO2 slope increased the predictive ability over the model based on age, sex, atrial fibrillation, left atrial volume index, and exercise E/e' (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These data provide new insights into the role of CPETecho in patients with HFpEF.

Exercise Stress Echocardiography-Based Phenotyping of Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a heterogeneous syndrome requiring improved phenotypic classification. Previous studies have identified subphenotypes of HFpEF, but the lack of exercise assessment is a major limitation. The aim of this study was to identify distinct pathophysiologic clusters of HFpEF based on clinical characteristics, and resting and exercise assessments. METHODS: A total of 265 patients with HFpEF underwent ergometry exercise stress echocardiography with simultaneous expired gas analysis. Cluster analysis was performed by the K-prototype method with 21 variables (10 clinical and resting echocardiographic variables and 11 exercise echocardiographic parameters). Pathophysiologic features, exercise tolerance, and prognosis were compared among phenogroups. RESULTS: Three distinct phenogroups were identified. Phenogroup 1 (n = 112 [42%]) was characterized by preserved biventricular systolic reserve and cardiac output augmentation. Phenogroup 2 (n = 58 [22%]) was characterized by a high prevalence of atrial fibrillation, increased pulmonary arterial and right atrial pressures, depressed right ventricular systolic functional reserve, and impaired right ventricular-pulmonary artery coupling during exercise. Phenogroup 3 (n = 95 [36%]) was characterized by the smallest body mass index, ventricular and vascular stiffening, impaired left ventricular diastolic reserve, and worse exercise capacity. Phenogroups 2 and 3 had higher rates of composite outcomes of all-cause mortality or heart failure events than phenogroup 1 (log-rank P = .02). CONCLUSION: Exercise echocardiography-based cluster analysis identified three distinct phenogroups of HFpEF, with unique exercise pathophysiologic features, exercise capacity, and clinical outcomes.

Impaired Left Atrial Reserve Function in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

BACKGROUND: Left atrial (LA) dysfunction is common in heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction. However, data on the pathophysiologic impacts of impaired LA functional reserve remained limited. We sought to determine the association of abnormal LA dynamics during exercise with cardiovascular reserve, exercise capacity, and clinical outcomes. METHODS: Patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction (n=231) and controls without HF (n=219) underwent exercise stress echocardiography with simultaneous expired gas analysis. LA function was assessed at rest and during exercise using speckle-tracking echocardiography. RESULTS: Patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction demonstrated less increase in LA reservoir and booster pump strain during exercise than those in controls. The degree of LA dilation was more closely related to exercise LA reservoir strain than to resting LA strain (Meng test, P=0.002). The presence of impaired LA reservoir strain during exercise was associated with poorer biventricular systolic reserve and cardiac output augmentation, more severe right ventricular-pulmonary artery uncoupling, and lower peak oxygen consumption. Patients with a lower exercise LA reservoir strain had a 2.7-fold increased risk of HF events (hazard ratio, 2.66 [95% CI, 1.32-5.38]; P=0.006). Among patients with follow-up echocardiography, initiation of guideline-directed medical therapy or atrial fibrillation ablation showed significant improvements in LA reservoir (P<0.001 and P=0.022) and booster pump strain (P=0.011 and 0.028) at rest and during exercise, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Impaired LA reservoir function during exercise in HF with preserved ejection fraction is associated with biventricular reserve limitations, exercise intolerance, and increased risks of HF events.

Variability in approach to exercise stress echocardiography for diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: an international survey on real-world practice.

Aims: The diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains challenging based on resting assessments. Exercise echocardiography is often used to unmask abnormalities that develop during exercise, but the diagnostic criteria have not been standardized. This study aimed to elucidate how cardiologists utilize exercise echocardiography to diagnose HFpEF in real-world practice. Methods and results: An international web-based survey involving 87 cardiologists was performed. We also performed a retrospective cross-sectional study to investigate the impact of different exercise echocardiographic diagnostic criteria in 652 dyspnoeic patients who underwent exercise echocardiography. The HFA-PEFF algorithm was the most commonly used exercise echocardiography criterion for HFpEF diagnoses (48%), followed by the ASE/EACVI criteria (24%) and other combinations of multiple parameters (22%). Among 652 patients, the proportion of HFpEF diagnosis varied substantially according to the criteria used ranging from 20.1% (ASE/EACVI criteria) to 44.3% (HFA-PEFF algorithm). Many cases (49.4-70.5%) remained indeterminate after exercise echocardiography, but only 41% of surveyed cardiologists would utilize exercise right heart catheterization to resolve an indeterminate result. Despite these diagnostic uncertainties, 54% of surveyed cardiologists would utilize exercise echocardiography results to initiate sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors. Conclusion: In real-world practice, exercise echocardiographic criteria utilized across cardiologists vary, which meaningfully impacts the frequency of HFpEF diagnoses, with indeterminate results being common. Despite these diagnostic uncertainties, many cardiologists initiate pharmacotherapy based on exercise echocardiography. The lack of consensus on universal diagnostic criteria for exercise echocardiography and approaches to indeterminate results may limit the delivery of evidence-based treatment for HFpEF.

[The postoperative management of patients after pluropneumonectomy--influence of the mode of the operation].

BACKGROUND: In our hospital, a new mode of operation was introduced in pleuropneumonectomy from 2004. We studied how these changes had affected postoperative management of patients after pleuropneumonectomy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 22 patients who had undergone pleuropneumonectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma from 2001 to 2008. They were divided into two groups; those before 2003 (n = 6) and those after 2004 (n = 16). RESULTS: After 2004, the amount of infusion, amount of blood transfusion and bleeding until POD1 were less, and the amount of urine output was more than that before 2003. But no significant complications were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The new mode of operation produced great improvement in immediate postoperative management. It is necessary to investigate if the new mode of operation improved prognosis and prevented perioperative complications.