Potential role of left atrial strain in estimation of left atrial pressure in patients with chronic heart failure.

AIMS: In a large proportion of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patients, echocardiographic estimation of left atrial pressure (LAP) is not possible when the ratio of the peak early left ventricular filling velocity over the late filling velocity (E/A ratio) is not available, which may occur due to several potential causes. Left atrial reservoir strain (LASr) is correlated with LV filling pressures and may serve as an alternative parameter in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether LASr can be used to estimate LAP in HFrEF patients in whom E/A ratio is not available. METHODS AND RESULTS: Echocardiograms of chronic HFrEF patients were analysed and LASr was assessed with speckle tracking echocardiography. LAP was estimated using the current ASE/EACVI algorithm. Patients were divided into those in whom LAP could be estimated using this algorithm (LAPe) and into those in whom this was not possible because E/A ratio was not available (LAPne). We assessed the prognostic value of LASr on the primary endpoint (PEP), which comprised the composite of hospitalization for the management of acute or worsened HF, left ventricular assist device implantation, cardiac transplantation, and cardiovascular death, whichever occurred first in time. We studied 153 patients with a mean age of 58 years of whom 76% men and 82% who were in NYHA class I-II. A total of 86 were in the LAPe group and 67 in the LAPne group. LASr was significantly lower in the LAPne group as compared with the LAPe group (15.8% vs. 23.8%, P < 0.001). PEP-free survival at a median follow-up of 2.5 years was 78% in LAPe versus 51% in LAPne patients. An increase in LASr was significantly associated with a reduced risk of the PEP in LAPne patients (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.91 per %, 95% confidence interval 0.84-0.98). An abnormal LASr (<18%) was associated with a five-fold increase in reaching the PEP. CONCLUSIONS: In HFrEF patients in whom echocardiographic estimation of LAP is not possible due to due to unavailability of E/A ratio, assessing LASr potentially carries added clinical and prognostic value.

Temporal trends in long-term mortality of patients with acute heart failure: Data from 1985-2008.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) has a poor prognosis. Patients with acute heart failure in particular have a high risk of dying. However, there is a lack of data regarding their long-term mortality and changes there-in with time. The aim of our study was to describe trends in short- and long-term mortality of patients hospitalized with acute HF in the period from 1985 through 2008. In addition, we determined the prognostic worth of the aetiology of HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included a consecutive series of 1810 patients with acute HF in this prospective registry in the period of 1985 through 2008. The cumulative one-year mortality rate of the patients was 35%. The short-term prognosis remained unchanged over the decades. However, the cumulative mortality rate ten years after admission was lowest in the last decade (73% in 2000-2008 vs. 78% in 1985-1999, p=0.001). After multivariable adjustment, the ten-year mortality rate was lower in the last decade as compared to the first decade (hazard ratio (HR) 0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71-0.96). Ischemic cardiomyopathy was associated with a higher mortality (HR 1.32; 95% CI 1.12-1.54) when compared to other causes of HF. CONCLUSIONS: Patients admitted with acute HF were found to have both high short-term and long-term mortality. Long-term prognostic improvement in the last decade was observed among patients with a reduced ejection fraction. While patients with HF due to valvular heart disease had the best prognosis, an ischemic aetiology of HF was associated with the worst outcome.