Diverse distribution patterns of segmental longitudinal strain are associated with different clinical features and outcomes in dilated cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) presents with diverse clinical courses, hardly predictable solely by the left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF). Longitudinal strain (LS) offers distinct information from LVEF and exhibits various distribution patterns. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of LS distribution patterns in DCM. METHODS: We studied 139 patients with DCM (LVEF ≤ 35%) who were admitted for heart failure (HF). LS distribution was assessed using a bull's eye map and the relative apical LS index (RapLSI), calculated by dividing apical LS by the sum of basal and mid-LS values. We evaluated the associations of LS distribution with cardiac events (cardiac death, LV assist device implantation, or HF hospitalization) and LV reverse remodeling (LVRR), as indicated by subsequent LVEF changes. RESULTS: Twenty six (19%) and 29 (21%) patients exhibited a pattern of relatively apical impaired or preserved LS (defined by RapLSI < 0.25 or > 0.75, signifying a 50% decrease or increase in apical LS compared to other segments), and the remaining patients exhibited a scattered/homogeneously impaired LS pattern. The proportion of new-onset heart failure and LVEF differed between the three groups. During the median 595-day follow-up, patients with relatively-impaired apical LS had a higher rate of cardiac events (both log-rank p < 0.05) and a lower incidence of LVRR (both p < 0.01) compared to patients with other patterns. RapLSI was significantly associated with cardiac event rates after adjusting for age, sex, and new-onset HF or global LS. CONCLUSION: DCM patients with reduced EF and distinct distribution patterns of impaired LS experienced different outcomes.

Left atrial appendage thrombus detected by transesophageal examination with linear endoscopic ultrasound.

Linear endoscopic ultrasound (L-EUS) is mainly performed to assess pancreaticobiliary and mediastinal diseases. In this report, transesophageal observation with L-EUS revealed an LAA thrombus that was not detected by transthoracic echocardiography. This report highlights a novel potential role for L-EUS in the detection of cardiovascular diseases including LAA thrombi.

Simple Electrocardiographic Score Can Predict Left Ventricular Reverse Remodeling in Patients With Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Left ventricular reverse remodeling (LVRR) is a favorable response in non-ischemic, non-valvular cardiomyopathy (NICM) patients. Recently, 18-lead body surface electrocardiography (ECG), the standard 12-lead ECG with synthesized right-sided/posterior chest leads, has been developed, but its predictive value for LVRR has not been evaluated. Methods and Results: Of 216 consecutive hospitalized NICM patients with LV ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤35%, we studied 125 who received optimization of their heart failure treatment and had 18-lead ECG and echocardiography data available for evaluating LVRR, defined as an absolute increase in LVEF ≥10% concomitant with LVEF ≥35% after 1-year optimized treatment. Most 18-lead ECG parameters in the NICM patients differed from those in 312 age- and body mass index-matched subjects with normal echocardiography. LVRR occurred in 59 NICM patients and they had a larger QRS amplitude in the limb leads (I, II, aVR, and aVF), precordial leads (V3-V6), and synthesized leads (syn-V4R-5R), decreased QRS axis and duration, and lower prevalence of fragmented QRS than those without LVRR. The ECG score using 3 selected parameters (QRS amplitude in aVR ≥675 µV; QRS duration <106 ms without fragmentation; and QRS axis <67°) was associated with the incidence of LVRR even after adjusting for optimized treatment. Conclusions: The standard 12-lead ECG parameters are sufficiently predictive of LVRR in NICM patients.

Liver Stiffness Reflecting Right-Sided Filling Pressure Can Predict Adverse Outcomes in Patients With Heart Failure.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to investigate whether elevated liver stiffness (LS) values at discharge reflect residual liver congestion and are associated with worse outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF). BACKGROUND: Transient elastography is a newly developed, noninvasive method for assessing LS, which can be highly reflective of right-sided filling pressure associated with passive liver congestion in patients with HF. METHODS: LS values were determined for 171 hospitalized patients with HF before discharge using a Fibroscan device. RESULTS: The median LS value was 5.6 kPa (interquartile range: 4.4 to 8.1 kPa; range 2.4 to 39.7 kPa) and that of right-sided filling pressure, which was estimated based on LS, was 5.7 mm Hg (interquartile range: 4.1 to 8.2 mm Hg; range 0.1 to 18.9 mm Hg). The patients in the highest LS tertile (>6.9 kPa, corresponding to an estimated right-sided filling pressure of >7.1 mm Hg) had advanced New York Heart Association functional class, high prevalence of jugular venous distention and moderate/severe tricuspid regurgitation, large inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter, low hemoglobin and hematocrit levels, high serum direct bilirubin level, and a similar left ventricular ejection fraction compared with the lower tertiles. During follow-up periods (median: 203 days), 8 (5%) deaths and 33 (19%) hospitalizations for HF were observed. The patients in the highest LS group had a significantly higher mortality rate and HF rehospitalization (hazard ratio: 3.57; 95% confidence interval: 1.93 to 6.83; p < 0.001) compared with the other tertiles. Although LS correlated with IVC diameter and serum direct bilirubin and brain natriuretic peptide levels, LS values were predictive of worse outcomes, even after adjustment for these indices. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that LS is a useful index for assessing systemic volume status and predicting the severity of HF, and that the presence of liver congestion at discharge is associated with worse outcomes in patients with HF.

Ratio of pulmonary artery diameter to ascending aortic diameter and severity of heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Treatment decisions in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients with severe heart failure (HF) and short clinical history are challenging because of the difficulty of determining HF stage or prognosis in the acute HF phase. We hypothesized that persistent decreased systemic or increased pulmonary arterial pressure, including in the sub-clinical phase, might affect the main pulmonary artery diameter (PAD), ascending aortic diameter (AoD), and their ratio (PAD/AoD). This study assessed AoD, PAD, and PAD/AoD by non-contrast computed tomography scans in DCM patients in the acute phase of HF and examined the association of these parameters with their clinical course. METHODS: Of 261 screened individuals, we studied 110 consecutive hospitalized patients with DCM suspected of being in advanced stage of HF and 45 age-matched controls, assessing clinical data and later events (cardiac death or left ventricular assist device implantation). RESULTS: Compared with controls, DCM patients had smaller AoD (26.6 ± 4.4 vs 30.6 ± 2.7 mm) and larger PAD (27.7 ± 3.5 vs 25.4 ± 2.8 mm) and PAD/AoD (1.05 ± 0.14 vs 0.83 ± 0.08; all p < 0.01). DCM patients with high PAD/AoD (median, > 1.05) had more frequent past HF hospitalizations, lower blood pressure, stroke volume, and ejection fraction, higher brain natriuretic peptide levels, smaller AoD, and similar PAD compared with patients with a low PAD/AoD. A higher PAD/AoD was associated with poorer outcomes even after adjusting for age, blood pressure, ejection fraction, or number of hospitalizations. CONCLUSION: Assessment of AoD and PAD may have important clinical implications in determining whether DCM patients are in an advanced stage of HF with a poorer prognosis.

Non-Ischemic Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction Is Associated With Altered Intestinal Microbiota.

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is a state of systemic inflammation that may be triggered by microbial products passing into the bloodstream through a compromised intestinal barrier. However, whether the intestinal microbiota exhibits dysbiosis in HFrEF patients is largely unknown.Methods and Results:Twenty eight non-ischemic HFrEF patients and 19 healthy controls were assessed by 16S rRNA analysis of bacterial DNA extracted from stool samples. After processing of sequencing data, bacteria were taxonomically classified, diversity indices were used to examine microbial ecology, and relative abundances of common core genera were compared between groups. Furthermore, we predicted gene carriage for bacterial metabolic pathways and inferred microbial interaction networks on multiple taxonomic levels.Bacterial communities of both groups were dominated by the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla. The most abundant genus in both groups wasBacteroides. Although α diversity did not differ between groups, ordination by ß diversity metrics revealed a separation of the groups across components of variation.StreptococcusandVeillonellawere enriched in the common core microbiota of patients, whileSMB53was depleted. Gene families in amino acid, carbohydrate, vitamin, and xenobiotic metabolism showed significant differences between groups. Interaction networks revealed a higher degree of correlations between bacteria in patients. CONCLUSIONS: Non-ischemic HFrEF patients exhibited multidimensional differences in intestinal microbial communities compared with healthy subjects.

The role of echocardiography in transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an effective and less invasive treatment for the increasing population of individuals with severe aortic stenosis (AS). Echocardiography is crucial in the assessment of AS patients from pre- to post-procedure. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) may be used to assess patient suitability for TAVI, as well as evaluate the severity of AS, the aortic valve complex, aortic valve morphology, mitral regurgitation (MR), and left ventricular function. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is usually used as an intra-procedural monitoring tool to provide feedback during the procedure, to assess prosthetic valve function, and to detect complications rapidly before and after balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) or transcatheter heart valve (THV) deployment. In this review, the role of echocardiography in the pre-, intra-, and post-TAVI procedure periods is described in detail.

Early repolarization pattern associated with sudden cardiac death: long-term follow-up in patients with chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Identification of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) at a risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD) is an important objective. Early repolarization pattern (ERP) is associated with ventricular fibrillation in patients without structural heart diseases. Moreover, ERP was reported to be associated with SCD in patients with old myocardial infarction in a case-control study. However, little information is available on the prognostic significance of ERP in CHF patients. Thus, we aimed to investigate whether ERP is associated with SCD in CHF patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study population consisted of 132 consecutive outpatients with NYHA class I, II and III congestive heart failure and radionuclide left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40%. All patients underwent the standard 12-lead electrocardiogram at enrollment, where we assessed the presence of ERP using the criteria of J-point elevation ≥ 0.1 mV in at least 2 inferior or lateral leads. The primary endpoint of this study was SCD. At enrollment, 16 patients had ERP. During the follow-up period of 6.7 ± 3.5 years, 26 patients had SCD. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that SCD was observed significantly more frequently in patients with ERP than in those without ERP (63% [10/16] vs 14% [16/116], P < 0.0001]. A multivariate Cox analysis revealed that ERP was significantly and independently associated with SCD (hazard ratio, 3.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.6-8.6; P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: ERP in inferior leads would be associated with an increased risk of SCD in CHF patients.