ABSTRACT
In patients with diuretic resistance due to heart failure, higher doses or continuous furosemide infusion and adding hypertonic saline solution (HSS) to diuretics could be effective. The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of hypertonic saline solution administration in weight loss of hospitalized patients with diuretic-resistant edema due to heart failure. In a randomized double-blinded clinical trial, adult patients with diffuse peripheral edema due to heart failure who were unresponsive to 80 mg of oral furosemide were enrolled. The patients were randomized into two groups. In the intervention and control groups, patients received 150 mL of HSS and normal saline, respectively. Subjects in both groups received 250 mg IV furosemide every 12 h for 48 h. The change in body weight, urine output, blood pressure, uric acid, urine osmolality, blood biochemistry, and urinary cystatin C levels were assessed. Based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 28 patients, 14 in each group, were recruited. The groups were similar in demographic and baseline laboratory characteristics. A significant decrease in body weight was observed in the intervention group (P = 0.002). The change in other measured parameters, including urine output and urinary cystatin C levels, was not reached statistical significance. Our findings suggest that the administration of HSS as an adjunct to loop diuretics could provide a safe and effective treatment for increasing urine output and decreasing weight in patients with heart failure.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Anthracyclines, a widely used chemotherapy agent with a definite survival improvement, can result in cardiac toxicity presenting with HF (heart failure). OBJECTIVE: We aim to assess the predictive value of cardiac biomarkers assessment in combination with myocardial two-dimensional strain echocardiography for early detection of cardiac toxicity in patients who underwent Anthracycline-based chemotherapy. METHODS: Fifty-two consecutive adult patients scheduled to undergo the first course of Anthracycline-based chemotherapy were subjected to the study. All the patients underwent highly sensitive 2D echocardiographic evaluation before the treatment, 4 and 12 weeks after completion of first-course chemotherapy. Longitudinal and segmental strains were measured. Serum levels of High-sensitive cardiac troponin I (hscTn-I) and N-terminal-pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) were also assessed before the initiation and 3 weeks after completion of first-course chemotherapy. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (28.8%) revealed a decrease in LVEF (Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction) throughout the evaluations, while just 5 patients met the criteria of cardiac toxicity (9.6%). AUC for Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS) ROC curve at 4 weeks of follow-up was calculated to be 0.968. Inferoseptal Systolic Longitudinal Strain (SLS) had the highest AUC value (AUC: 0.934) among different wall SLS. LVESD (Left Ventricular End-Systolic Diameter) at first and second evaluation could predict the risk of cardiac toxicity among LVESD, LVEDD (Left Ventricular End Diastolic Diameter) and LVEDV (Left Ventricular End-Diastolic Volume). Among cardiac biomarkers, hscTnI had higher sensitivity, while NT-proBNP had higher specificity for cardiac toxicity. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that hs-cTnI with good sensitivity can predict cardiac toxicity in Anthracycline-based chemotherapy receiver. The use of strain with speckle echocardiography method has a prognostic value; however, both longitudinal and segmental strain should be assessed. Lateral and inferoseptal SLS (Segmental Longitudinal Strain) are specific markers of cardiac toxicity in the course of anthracycline-related cardiac toxicity.
