Relationship of technetium-99m tetrofosmin-gated rest single-photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging to death and hospitalization in heart failure patients: results from the nuclear ancillary study of the HF-ACTION trial.

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that the severity of resting perfusion abnormalities assessed by the summed rest score (SRS) would be associated with a higher rate of adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF). METHODS: A subset of 240 subjects from HF-ACTION underwent resting technetium-99m tetrofosmin-gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Images were evaluated using a 17-segment model to derive the SRS and additional nuclear variables. RESULTS: After adjusting for prespecified covariates, SRS was significantly associated with the primary end point (hazard ratio 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97-1.00, P = .04), with a higher SRS corresponding to lower risk of an event. This association was not present in the unadjusted analysis. The relationship between SRS and the primary outcome was likely due to a higher event ratein patients with ischemic HF and a low SRS. The LV phase SD was not predictive of the primary outcome (hazard ratio 1.00, 95% confidence interval 0.99-1.01, P = .49). In a post hoc analysis, nuclear variables provided incremental prognostic information when added to clinical information (P = .006). CONCLUSIONS: Gated SPECT MPI provides important information in patients with HF and reduced LVEF. In the adjusted analysis, SRS has an unexpected relationship with the primary end point. Phase SD was not associated with the primary end point. Rest-gated SPECT MPI provides incrementally greater prognostic information than clinical information alone.

Variables Measured During Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing as Predictors of Mortality in Chronic Systolic Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND: Data from a cardiopulmonary exercise (CPX) test are used to determine prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure (HF). However, few published studies have simultaneously compared the relative prognostic strength of multiple CPX variables. OBJECTIVES: The study sought to describe the strength of the association among variables measured during a CPX test and all-cause mortality in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), including the influence of sex and patient effort, as measured by respiratory exchange ratio (RER). METHODS: Among patients (n = 2,100, 29% women) enrolled in the HF-ACTION (HF-A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of exercise traiNing) trial, 10 CPX test variables measured at baseline (e.g., peak oxygen uptake [Vo2], exercise duration, percent predicted peak Vo2 [%ppVo2], ventilatory efficiency) were examined. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 32 months, there were 357 deaths. All CPX variables, except RER, were related to all-cause mortality (all p < 0.0001). Both %ppVo2 and exercise duration were equally able to predict (Wald chi-square: ∼141) and discriminate (c-index: 0.69) mortality. Peak Vo2 (ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) was the strongest predictor of mortality among men (Wald chi-square: 129) and exercise duration among women (Wald chi-square: 41). Multivariable analyses showed that %ppVo2, exercise duration, and peak Vo2 (ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) were similarly able to predict and discriminate mortality. In men, a 10% 1-year mortality rate corresponded to a peak Vo2 of 10.9 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1) versus 5.3 ml·kg(-1)·min(-1) in women. CONCLUSIONS: Peak Vo2, exercise duration, and % ppVo2 carried the strongest ability to predict and discriminate the likelihood of death in patients with HFrEF. The prognosis associated with a given peak Vo2 differed by sex. (Exercise Training Program to Improve Clinical Outcomes in Individuals With Congestive Heart Failure; NCT00047437).

Brain damage after heat stroke.

Cerebellar syndromes and radiologic cerebellar atrophy after hyperpyrexia have occasionally been reported, mostly in neuroleptic malignant syndromes, but neuropathologic studies are extremely rare. We studied 3 patients (a 74-year-old woman, a 63-year-old man, and an 80-year-old man) who had heat stroke during heat waves in France. One patient had generalized seizures and died 28 hours after admission. The other patients survived one month and 2 months after admission; both had palatal myoclonus, and in one case, magnetic resonance imaging showed high signal intensity in the cerebral peduncles. The main neuropathology in the 3 cases was severe diffuse loss of Purkinje cells associated with heat shock protein 70 expression by Bergmann glia. In situ end labeling was negative in surviving Purkinje cells, suggesting that the mechanism of neuronal death was not apoptosis. Degeneration of Purkinje cells axons resulted in myelin pallor of the white matter of the folia and of the hilum of the dentate nuclei. DNA internucleosomal breakages were identified by in situ end labeling in the dentate nuclei and centromedian nuclei of the thalamus and were associated with degeneration of the cerebellar efferent pathways: superior cerebellar peduncles, decussation of the superior cerebellar peduncles (Wernekinck commissure), and dentatothalamic tract. These findings suggest that the mechanisms of neuronal death in the dentate nuclei and centromedian nuclei of the thalamus was different from that in Purkinje cells and more likely resulted from deafferentation. Ammon's horn and other areas susceptible to hypoxia were spared. These observations confirm the selective vulnerability of Purkinje cells to heat-induced injury and involvement of the cerebellar efferent pathways in palatal myoclonus.

Modest increase in peak VO2 is related to better clinical outcomes in chronic heart failure patients: results from heart failure and a controlled trial to investigate outcomes of exercise training.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic ability of a single measurement of peak oxygen uptake (VO(2)) is well established in patients with chronic heart failure. The relation between a change in peak VO(2) and clinical outcomes is not well defined. METHODS AND RESULTS: This investigation determined whether an increase in peak VO(2) was associated with a lower risk of the primary end point of time to all-cause mortality or all-cause hospitalization and 3 secondary end points. In Heart Failure and a Controlled Trial to Investigate Outcomes of Exercise Training, an exercise training trial for patients with systolic heart failure, cardiopulmonary exercise tests were performed at baseline and ≈3 months later in 1620 participants. Median peak VO(2) in the combined sample increased from 15.0 (11.9-18.0 Q1-Q3) to 15.4 (12.3-18.7 Q1-Q3) mL·kg(-1)·min(-1). Every 6% increase in peak VO(2,) adjusted for other significant predictors, was associated with a 5% lower risk of the primary end point (hazard ratio=0.95; CI=0.93-0.98; P<0.001); a 4% lower risk of the secondary end point of time to cardiovascular mortality or cardiovascular hospitalization (hazard ratio=0.96; CI=0.94-0.99; P<0.001); an 8% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality or heart failure hospitalization (hazard ratio=0.92; CI=0.88-0.96; P<0.001); and a 7% lower all-cause mortality (hazard ratio=0.93; CI=0.90-0.97; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with chronic systolic heart failure, a modest increase in peak VO(2) over 3 months was associated with a more favorable outcome. Monitoring the change in peak VO(2) for such patients may have benefit in assessing prognosis.