Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure during Exercise Is Prognostic for Long-Term Survival in Patients with Symptomatic Heart Failure.

Aims: Exercise stress testing can stratify specific populations of heart failure patients for mortality risk, but is not universally applied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic capabilities of invasive exercise testing in a real-world cohort of suspected heart failure patients in whom non-cardiac causes of dyspnea were excluded. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the survival of 682 patients who underwent right heart catheterization at rest and during exercise between 2007 and 2017 for dyspnea and expected heart failure. Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) at rest and the PCWP response to exercise, expressed as the ratio of PCWP at peak exercise to workload normalized to body weight (PCWL (mmHg/W/kg)), were determined. Mortality data were retrieved from the official German death registry. Results: Over a median follow-up period of 8.5 years, PCWL is a stronger predictor of all-cause mortality than PCWP. Patients featuring a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF; <50%), but favorable response to exercise (PCWL <34.7 mmHg/W/kg), have a similar mortality risk to patients with a normal LVEF and low PCWL (hazard ratio (HR) 1.180, 95% CI 0.48−2.91, p = 0.719). Irrespective of LVEF, an increased PCWL during exercise was associated with a significantly increased mortality (HR 1.950 with preserved LVEF, 95% CI 1.12−3.34, p = 0.018; and HR 3.212 with impaired LVEF, 95% CI 1.75−5.70, p < 0.001). Conclusions: In patients with clinical heart failure, invasive exercise testing improves the prediction of mortality. Subjects with a favorable response to exercise have a relatively low mortality irrespective of left ventricular systolic function.

Accuracy of Carotid Artery Stenosis Quantification with 4-D-Supported 3-D Power-Doppler versus Color-Doppler and 2-D Blood Velocity-Based Duplex Ultrasonography.

Assessment of the severity of internal carotid artery stenosis is relevant to therapeutic decisions. Direct measurement of stenosis in static three-dimensionally rendered ultrasonographic color-Doppler images after an orientation with 4-D gray-scale views (4D/3D-C-US) was recently observed to be metrically non-inferior to angiography. In the study described here, power-Doppler (Christian Doppler was a physicist) ultrasonography (4D/3D-P-US) was prospectively compared with angiography, 4D/3D-C-US and 2-D duplex ultrasonography (DUS) in a similar fashion using blinded observers. Percentage stenosis was measured in 36 patients. Continuous percentage stenosis measures (standard deviation of difference and concordance correlation coefficient) between angiography and 4D/3D-P-US did not differ from the results between angiography observers (p > 0.05). Dichotomous diagnosis with 4D/3D-P-US resulted in κ values similar to the inter-rater agreement of angiography and the inter-method agreement of 4D/3D-C-US and DUS compared with angiography. Binary accuracy did not differ between 4D/3D-P-US, 4D/3D-C-US and DUS (p > 0.5). In conclusion, stenosis grading using 4D/3D-P-US exhibited non-inferior inter-method agreement with angiography at good accuracies, similar to 4D/3D-C-US and DUS.

Improved Carotid Stenosis Quantification on Novel 4D/3D-Doppler Ultrasonography Indexing to the Common Carotid Artery.

PURPOSE: The accuracy of internal carotid artery stenosis (ICAS) quantification depends on the method of stenosis measurement, impacting therapeutic decisions and outcomes. The NASCET method references the stenotic to the distal ICAS lumen, the ECST method to the local outer and the common carotid artery (CC) method to the CC diameter. Direct morphometric stenosis measurement with four-dimensionally guided three-dimensional ultrasonography (4D/3DC-US) demonstrated good validity for the commonly used NASCET method. The NASCET definition has clinically relevant drawbacks. Our purpose was to investigate the validity of the ECST and CC methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 4D/3DC-US percent-stenosis measures of 103 stenoses (80 patients) were compared to quantitative catheter angiography and duplex ultrasonography (DUS) in a blinded fashion. RESULTS: The 4D/3DC-US versus angiography intermethod standard deviation of differences (SDD, n = 103) was lower for the CC method (5.7 %) compared to the NASCET (8.1 %, p < 0.001) and ECST methods (9.1 %, p < 0.001). Additionally, it was lower than the NASCET angiography interrater SDD of 52 stenoses (SDD 7.2 %, p = 0.047) and non-inferior for the ECST method (p = 0.065). Interobserver analysis of equivalent grading methods showed no differences for the SDDs between angiography and 4D/3DC-US observers (p > 0.076). Binary comparison to angiography showed equal Kappa values > 0.7 and an accuracy ≥ 85 % for the NASCET and CC methods, higher than for the ECST method. The binary accuracy of ICAS grading did not differ from DUS for all methods. CONCLUSION: The new 4D/3DC-US CC method is an accurate and well reproducible alternative to the NASCET and ECST methods and offers potential for clinical application.

Amplified P-wave duration predicts new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) increases morbidity and mortality in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), yet identification of HFpEF-patients at risk for new-onset AF is challenging. Amplified P-wave duration (APWD) non-invasively detects arrhythmogenic atrial substrate with high accuracy. We hypothesized that APWD may help in the prediction of new-onset AF in HFpEF. METHODS: Patients with suspected HFpEF (n = 99, left ventricular ejection fraction > 50%, no evidence of valvulopathy, coronary artery disease, or non-cardiac dyspnea) underwent exercise testing with concomitant right-heart catheterization. Normal resting pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP; < 12 mmHg) with an increase during exercise > 25.5 mmHg/W/kg defined early HFpEF. Advanced HFpEF was diagnosed with PCWP > 12 mmHg at rest. Arrhythmogenic atrial substrate (defined as APWD > 150 ms) was investigated on digitized standard 12-lead ECGs and patients were followed for new-onset AF at 6-month intervals. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients had normal exercise haemodynamics and served as controls. Early and advanced HFpEF was diagnosed in 29 and 23 patients, respectively. Eighty-seven per cent of patients with advanced HFpEF had evidence of arrhythmogenic atrial substrate, (APWD 175 ± 29 ms vs. 132 ± 14 ms in controls, p < 0.0001), which was associated with a tenfold increased risk for new-onset AF during 4.6 years of follow-up (hazard ratio [HR] 9.684, 95% CI 2.61-35.89, p < 0.0001). Early HFpEF was neither related to APWD (p = 0.395), nor to a higher risk for AF (HR 3.44, 95% CI 0.57-20.72, p = 0.178). Importantly, the presence of arrhythmogenic substrate was independent of left atrial indexed volume. CONCLUSION: The analysis of amplified P-wave duration (APWD) allows for the prediction of new-onset AF in patients with advanced HFpEF.

4-Dimensionally Guided 3-Dimensional Color-Doppler Ultrasonography Quantifies Carotid Artery Stenosis With High Reproducibility and Accuracy.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose was to analyze the agreement and binary accuracy of the degree of internal carotid artery stenosis (ICAS) as determined by 4-dimensionally (4D) real-time gray-scale guided 3-dimensional (3D) color-Doppler ultrasonography (3DC-US) (4D/3DC-US) compared with catheter angiography (CA) and duplex ultrasonography (DUS). This study hypothesized that 4D/3DC-US is noninferior to CA and DUS in grading ICAS in selected patients. BACKGROUND: Clinical stratification in patients with ICAS largely depends on a patient's symptomatic status and the degree of stenosis. METHODS: Screening with 4D/3DC-US was prospectively performed in 93 study patients (with 122 ICASs), thus yielding 80 patients for analysis (with 103 ICASs) after excluding patients with insufficient image quality, previous revascularization, and contraindications to CA. The ultrasound examination (10 MHz) consisted of consensus conform DUS examination and independent real-time 4D-guided gray-scale views for orientation followed by static 3DC-US NASCET (North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial) percent stenosis quantification using off-line multiplanar rendering. Multiplanar selective CA of the same ICASs was quantified with dedicated software in a blinded fashion. RESULTS: Quantitative CA of 103 stenoses with a mean degree of 65 ± 17% was compared with 4D/3DC-US, with a resulting concordance correlation coefficient of 0.89 and a standard deviation of differences (SDD) of 8.1% at a bias of +1.7%. Binary 50% and 70% stenosis detection with 4D/3DC-US revealed a sensitivity of 97% and 87%, respectively, and a specificity of 92% and 84%, respectively. Interobserver SDD for CA of 52 stenoses (7.2%) did not differ from SDD for 4D/3DC-US and CA (p = 0.274). Accuracy of 50% stenosis detection by 4D/3DC-US was tendentially higher compared with DUS (96% vs. 91%). CONCLUSIONS: The 4D/3DC-US method provides reliable and accurate stenosis quantification and binary classification with good diagnostic accuracy compared with CA and DUS.