ABSTRACT
Introduction: Remote pulmonary artery pressure (PAP)-guided heart failure (HF) therapy for NYHA class III patients has been shown to reduce hospitalizations and increase survival. We aimed to assess whether PAP monitoring allows for the increase in HF directed medication in an elderly German cohort of advanced HF patients already receiving clinically optimized HF medication. Methods: We analyzed PAP and HF medication dosage, including diuretics, in 24 patients (mean age, 76 years) using implanted PAP-sensors during the first 12 months of PAP-guided HF care in an interdisciplinary HF unit. Results: During 12 months of PAP-guided HF therapy, PAP decreased significantly (â³PAP systolic−6 ± 10, â³PAP diastolic−4 ± 7, â³PAP mean−4 ± 8 mm Hg, p < 0.01 for all). 16% of patients had an unplanned HF hospitalization. There was no significant change over time with respect to the dosage of RAAS inhibitors (ACE-I/ARB/ARNI), Beta blockers, or MRA treatments. In contrast, the dosage of loop diuretics increased significantly (2.1 ± 0.5-fold) over time. In the comparison of a "responder" (patients with PAP and diuretic dose decline) and "non-responder" (patients with PAP and diuretic dose increase) group, there were no significant differences between any of the baseline, medication, or HF hospitalization characteristics between the two groups. Conclusions: In elderly patients treated with clinically optimized HF medication, no further evidence-based medication increase could be achieved using PAP-guided HF care. However, by individual adjustment of diuretic dosage, a significant decline in PAP over time occurred, which could not be predicted by any of the baseline characteristics.
ABSTRACT
AIM: Patients with advanced systolic chronic heart failure frequently suffer from progressive functional mitral regurgitation. We report our initial experience in patients with an implanted pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) sensor, who developed severe mitral regurgitation, which was treated with the MitraClip system. We non-invasively compared changes in PAP values in patients after MitraClip with PAP changes in patients without MitraClip. METHODS AND RESULTS: Among 28 patients with New York Heart Association III heart failure with implanted PAP sensor for haemodynamic telemonitoring from a single centre, four patients (age 66 ± 6 years, left ventricular ejection fraction 21 ± 3%, and cardiac index 1.8 ± 0.3) received a MitraClip procedure and were compared with 24 patients (age 72 ± 8 years, left ventricular ejection fraction 26 ± 9.9%, and cardiac index 2.0 ± 1.0) without MitraClip procedure in a descriptive manner. Ambulatory PAP values were followed for 90 days in both groups. In comparison with the PAP values 4 weeks before MitraClip procedure, PAP was profoundly reduced in all four patients after 30 days (ΔPAPmean -11 ± 5, ΔPAPdiast -7 ± 3 mmHg, P < 0.02) as well as after 90 days (ΔPAPmean -6.3 ± 6, ΔPAPdiast -1 ± 3 mmHg). Reductions in PAP were accompanied by a profound reduction in N terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide as well as clinical and echocardiographic improvement. When analysing the dynamics with a regression model, reductions in all PAP values were significantly greater after MitraClip compared with conservative haemodynamic monitoring (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of the interventional MitraClip procedure on clinical symptoms can be confirmed by haemodynamic telemonitoring. Thus, daily non-invasive haemodynamic telemonitoring allows, for the first time, for a continuous assessment of the haemodynamic efficacy of novel therapies in patients with chronic heart failure.
