ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the value of real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) in the assessment of splenic congestion in patients with chronic right heart failure.Methods:Sixty patients with chronic right heart failure with cardiac function grade Ⅱ-Ⅳ of New York Heart Association (NYHA) treated in Lianyungang First People′s Hospital from March 2020 to February 2021 were collected as the study group, and 20 healthy subjects in the same period were selected as the control group. Routine echocardiography was performed on all subjects; spleen stiffness measurement (SSM) was detected by SWE, and blood biochemical indicators related to patients with right heart failure were detected and recorded. SSM and other related parameters between the two groups were analyzed; the SSM in patients of different cardiac function classifications and course of disease were compared; 60 patients were divided into low SSM group (SSM≤15.0 kPa), middle SSM group (15.0 kPa<SSM<21.3 kPa) and high SSM group (SSM≥21.3 kPa) according to the measured SSM (9.1-34.5 kPa). The differences in clinical indicators between the three groups were analyzed and compared, and the adverse events of the three groups were analyzed by the kaplan-Meier (KM) method. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the value of SSM for predicting right atrial pressure (RAP)≥10 mmHg in patients with chronic right heart failure. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors of increased SSM in patients with chronic right heart failure.Results:Compared with the control group [(10.23±1.95)kPa], the SSM of the study group [(22.09±6.99)kPa] was significantly higher, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( P<0.05); the SSM in patients with cardiac function grade Ⅳ [(25.24±4.53)kPa] was higher than those of grade Ⅲ [(16.71±3.12)kPa] and grade Ⅱ [(11.89±2.10)kPa] (all P<0.001); the SSM in patients with course of disease≥1 year [(24.71±4.61)kPa] was higher than those with a course of <1 year [(14.95±4.00)kPa] ( P<0.001); Compared with the low SSM group and the middle SSM group, the estimated RAP, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP) and right atrial volume index (RAVI) of the high SSM group were higher (all P<0.05), and the inferior vena cava collapsible index (IVC-CI) was lower ( P<0.05). KM survival analysis showed that the incidence of adverse events in high SSM group was significantly higher compared with the middle SSM group and lower SSM group ( P<0.001). SSM in patients with right heart failure was positively correlated with NT pro-BNP, estimated RAP, and RAVI (all P<0.05), negatively correlated with IVC-CI ( P<0.05); When SSM≥26.1 kPa, the area under ROC curve was of predicting RAP≥10 mmHg 0.863 (95% CI: 0.771-0.955), and the sensitivity and specificity were 76.5% and 81.4%. Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that NT pro-BNP, estimated RAP and IVC-CI were independent risk factors of SSM in patients with chronic right heart failure. Conclusions:The increase of SSM can reflect the increase of RAP, the severity of right heart failure and heart failure. The detection of SSM by SWE technology can conveniently and effectively monitor and evaluate the degree of splenic congestion and injury.