Post-extrasystolic Blood Pressure Potentiation as a Risk Predictor in Cardiac Patients.

For more than 100 years physicians have observed that heartbeats following extrasystolic beats are characterised by augmented myocardial contractility. This phenomenon was termed post-extrasystolic potentiation (PESP). In the 1970s it was first noted that PESP measured at the blood pressure level is typically pronounced in heart failure patients. Only recently, it was shown that PESP measured non-invasively as post-extrasystolic blood pressure potentiation was a strong and independent predictor of death in survivors of myocardial infarction and in patients with chronic heart failure. A similar parameter (PESPAfib) can be also assessed in patients with atrial fibrillation. PESP and PESPAfib can be understood as non-invasive parameters that indicate myocardial dysfunction. They have the potential to improve risk stratification strategies for cardiac patients.

Expiration-Triggered Sinus Arrhythmia Predicts Outcome in Survivors of Acute Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of cardiac vagal modulation, provides cardiac risk stratification information. RSA can be quantified from Holter recordings as the high-frequency component of heart rate variability or as the variability of RR intervals in individual respiratory cycles. However, as a risk predictor, RSA is neither exceptionally sensitive nor specific. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to improve RSA determination by quantifying the amount of sinus arrhythmia related to expiration (expiration-triggered sinus arrhythmia [ETA]) from short-term recordings of electrocardiogram and respiratory chest excursions, and investigated the predictive power of ETA in survivors of acute myocardial infarction. METHODS: Survivors of acute myocardial infarction (N = 941) underwent 30-min recordings of electrocardiogram and respiratory chest excursions. ETA was quantified as the RR interval change associated with expiration by phase-rectified signal averaging. Primary outcome was 5-year all-cause mortality. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression was used to investigate the association of ETA with mortality. RESULTS: ETA was a strong predictor of mortality, both in univariable and multivariable analysis. In a multivariable model including respiratory rate, left ventricular ejection fraction, diabetes mellitus, and GRACE score, ETA ≤0.19 ms was associated with a hazard ratio of 3.41 (95% confidence interval: 1.10 to 5.89, p < 0.0001). In patient subgroups defined by abnormal left ventricular ejection fraction, increased respiratory rate, high GRACE score, or presence of diabetes mellitus, patients were classified as high or low risk on the basis of ETA. CONCLUSIONS: Expiration-triggered sinus arrhythmia (ETA) is a potent and independent post-infarction risk marker.

[Fragmented QRS. Relevance in clinical practice]. / Fragmentierter QRS-Komplex. Bedeutung in der klinischen Praxis.

The QRS complex represents the electrical depolarization of ventricular myocardium. In the case of an undisturbed depolarization, the QRS complex has a normal configuration and duration, but abnormal electrical conduction leads to widening of the QRS complex. The block of one of the Tawara branches results in a typical bundle branch block pattern. A QRS complex that cannot be classified as bundle branch block due to an atypical configuration and contains notched R or S waves is called a fragmented QRS. The underlying pathophysiologies are manifold and include myocardial scars induced by ischemic heart disease, myocardial fibrosis due to other diseases, primary cardiac pathologies as well as systemic diseases with cardiac involvement. Pathologies on the cellular level, such as ion channel dysfunctions, also correlate with fragmented QRS. Besides the diagnostic relevance, fragmented QRS is known to have prognostic properties, for example in identifying high risk patients with coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, Brugada syndrome and acquired long QT syndrome; however, fragmented QRS may also be detected in ECGs of healthy individuals.

Force-interval relationship predicts mortality in survivors of myocardial infarction with atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: RR interval variations lead to beat-to-beat blood pressure differences through the myocardial force-interval relationship (FIR). In sinus rhythm, an altered FIR leads to post-extrasystolic potentiation (PESP) of systolic blood pressure, which has been shown to predict adverse outcome in survivors of acute myocardial infarction (MI). The purpose of this study was (1) to develop a parameter to assess the FIR in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and (2) to investigate its association with mortality in MI survivors suffering from AF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-two patients with acute MI and AF underwent 30-min recordings of ECG and continuous blood pressure. Episodes of a short RR interval (<80% of mean interval, RRi) preceding a long interval (>140%, RRi+1) were identified. The systolic pressures of the pulse waves following RRi and RRi+1 were labeled Pi and Pi+1. PESPAfib was calculated as (Pi+1-Pi)/(RRi+1-RRi). During 5years of follow-up, 13 patients died. When PESPAfib was dichotomized at the median, mortality rates were 63% and 19% in patients with high and low PESPAfib. Hazard ratio for mortality was 4.88 for patients with high PESPAfib (1.33-17.84, p=0.004). The association of PESPAfib and mortality was independent from LVEF, age, diabetes mellitus or mean heart rate. CONCLUSIONS: PESPAfib, a measure for the FIR in patients with AF, can be derived from simultaneous ECG and blood pressure recordings. The results of this pilot study indicate that PESPAfib may be useful to predict adverse outcome in survivors of myocardial infarction suffering from AF.

Sex differences in the non-invasive risk stratification and prognosis after myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Women have unfavorable prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI). This text describes sex differences in mortality and in the power of risk predictors in contemporarily-treated MI patients. METHODS: A population of 4141 MI patients (26.5% females) was followed up for 5years. Effects of sex and age on total mortality were investigated by multivariable Cox analysis. Mortality predictors were investigated by receiver-operator characteristics analysis. Stepwise multivariable Cox regression was used to create sex-specific predictive models. RESULTS: Thirty-day mortality was 1.5-fold higher in women. However, sex was not a significant mortality predictor in a model adjusted for age. Predictors for 5-year mortality performed differently in male and female patients. In women, a sex-specific model provided better risk stratification than a sex-neutral model. CONCLUSION: The unfavorable prognosis of female MI patients can be explained by advanced age. Sex-specific predictive models might improve risk stratification in female survivors of acute MI.