B-Lines by Lung Ultrasound Can Predict Worsening Heart Failure in Acute Myocardial Infarction During Hospitalization and Short-Term Follow-Up.

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with pulmonary edema shows a worse prognosis. Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a new tool for evaluating subclinical pulmonary congestion. It has been proved to predict prognosis in heart failure; however, whether it can be used as a short-term prognostic marker in AMI and provide incremental value to Killip classification is unknown. Methods: We performed echocardiography and LUS by the 8-zone method in patients enrolled in Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for AMI from March to July 2021. The lung water detected by LUS was defined as B-lines, and the sum of the B-line number from 8 chest zones was calculated. Besides, the classification into LUS according to the pulmonary edema severity was as follows: normal (B-line numbers <5), mild (B-line numbers ≥5 and <15), moderate (B-line numbers ≥15 and <30), and severe (B-line numbers ≥30). The NT-proBNP analysis was performed on the same day. All patients were followed up for 30 days after discharge. The adverse events were defined as all-cause death, worsening heart failure in hospitalization, or re-hospitalization for heart failure during the follow-up. Results: Sixty three patients were enrolled consecutively and followed up for 30 days. The number of B-lines at admission (median 7[3-15]) was correlated with NT-proBNP (r = 0.37, p = 0.003) and negatively correlated with ejection fraction (r = -0.43; p < 0.001) separately. In the multivariate analysis, B-line number was an independent predictor of short-term outcomes in AMI patients (in-hospital, adjusted OR 1.13 [95% CI: 1.04-1.23], P = 0.006; 30-day follow-up, adjusted OR 1.09 [95% CI: 1.01-1.18], P = 0.020). For in-hospital results, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were 0.639 (P = 0.093), 0.837 (P < 0.001), and 0.847 (P < 0.001) for Killip, LUS and their combination, respectively. For the diagnosis of 30-day adverse events, the AUCs were 0.665 for the Killip classification (P = 0.061), 0.728 for LUS (P = 0.010), and 0.778 for their combination (P = 0.002). Conclusion: B-lines by lung ultrasound can be an independent predictor of worsening heart failure in AMI during hospitalization and short-term follow-up and provides significant incremental prognostic value to Killip classification.

Dilated Left Ventricular End-Diastolic Diameter Is a New Risk Factor of Acute Kidney Injury Following Coronary Angiography.

Purpose: Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) is a common indicator in echocardiogram, and dilated LVEDD was correlated with left ventricular insufficiency. However, it is uncertain whether dilated LVEDD is associated with increasing the risk of contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients and Methods: We enrolled 8,189 patients with CAD undergoing coronary angiography (CAG) between January 2007 and December 2018. Patients were divided into two groups according to the LVEDD length (normal LVEDD: men: LVEDD ≤56 mm, women: LVEDD ≤51 mm; dilated LVEDD: men: LVEDD >56 mm, women: LVEDD >51 mm). The endpoints were CA-AKI0350 and CA-AKI0525 (CA-AKI0350: an increase in the serum creatinine (Scr) level by >0.3 mg/dl or >50% within the first 48 h after CAG; CA-AKI0525: an absolute Scr increase ≥ 0.5 mg/dl or a relative increase ≥ 25% within 72 h after contrast medium exposure). In-hospital dialysis, 30-day mortality, and 1-year mortality were contained as well. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were used to assess the association between LVEDD and CA-AKI. Results: Among 8,189 participants (men: 76.6%, mean age: 64.4 ± 10.7 years), 1,603 (19.6%) presented with dilated LVEDD. In addition, the dilated LVEDD group indicated an elevation of CA-AKI0350 (12.4 vs. 6.2%, p < 0.001) and CA-AKI0525 (15.0 vs. 8.8%; p < 0.001) when compared with the normal group. According to multivariable logistic analysis, dilated LVEDD was an independent predictor of CA-AKI0350 [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06-1.61, p = 0.010) and CA-AKI0525 (aOR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.04-1.67; p = 0.020). Conclusion: In conclusion, these results demonstrated that the dilated LVEDD was a significant and independent predictor of CA-AKI following CAG in patients with CAD. Further verifications are needed to verify the association between LVEDD and CA-AKI.

Prevalence and Prognosis of HFimpEF Developed From Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Heart failure with improved ejection fraction (HFimpEF) is classified as a new type of heart failure, and its prevalence and prognosis are not consistent in previous studies. There is no systematic review and meta-analysis regarding the prevalence and prognosis of the HFimpEF. Method: A systematic search was performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library from inception to May 22, 2021 (PROSPERO registration: CRD42021260422). Studies were included for analysis if the prognosis of mortality or hospitalization were reported in HFimpEF or in patients with heart failure with recovered ejection fraction (HFrecEF). The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Cardiac hospitalization, all-cause hospitalization, and composite events of mortality and hospitalization were considered as secondary outcomes. Result: Nine studies consisting of 9,491 heart failure patients were eventually included. During an average follow-up of 3.8 years, the pooled prevalence of HFimpEF was 22.64%. HFimpEF had a lower risk of mortality compared with heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) (adjusted HR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.33-0.60). HFimpEF was also associated with a lower risk of cardiac hospitalization (HR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.20-0.82) and the composite endpoint of mortality and hospitalization (HR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.44-0.73). Compared with patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), HFimpEF was associated with a moderately lower risk of mortality (HR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.32-0.55) and hospitalization (HR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.58-0.92). Conclusion: Around 22.64% of patients with HFrEF would be treated to become HFimpEF, who would then obtain a 56% decrease in mortality risk. Meanwhile, HFimpEF is associated with lower heart failure hospitalization. Further studies are required to explore how to promote left ventricular ejection fraction improvement and improve the prognosis of persistent HFrEF in patients. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021260422, identifier: CRD42021260422.

Using Latent Class Analysis to Identify Different Risk Patterns for Patients With Masked Hypertension.

Background: There is controversy whether masked hypertension (MHT) requires additional intervention. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether MHT accompanied with high-risk metabolic syndrome (MetS), as the subphenotype, will have a different prognosis from low-risk MetS. Methods: We applied latent class analysis to identify subphenotypes of MHT, using the clinical and biological information collected from High-risk Cardiovascular Factor Screening and Chronic Disease Management Programme. We modeled the data, examined the relationship between subphenotypes and clinical outcomes, and further explored the impact of antihypertensive medication. Results: We included a total of 140 patients with MHT for analysis. The latent class model showed that the two-class (high/low-risk MetS) model was most suitable for MHT classification. The high-risk MetS subphenotype was characterized by larger waist circumference, lower HDL-C, higher fasting blood glucose and triglycerides, and prevalence of diabetes. After four years of follow-up, participants in subphenotype 1 had a higher non-major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) survival probability than those in subphenotype 2 (P = 0.016). There was no interaction between different subphenotypes and the use of antihypertensive medications affecting the occurrence of MACE. Conclusions: We have identified two subphenotypes in MHT that have different metabolic characteristics and prognosis, which could give a clue to the importance of tracing the clinical correlation between MHT and metabolic risk factors. For patients with MHT and high-risk MetS, antihypertensive therapy may be insufficient.

Relationship Between Masked Hypertension Measured by Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring and Left Ventricular Global Longitudinal Strain: A Retrospective Study.

PURPOSE: Masked hypertension (MHT), as an independent clinical entity, the cardiac dysfunction caused by it can be early detected through left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS), yet the quantitative relation between MHT and GLS is still unclear. Therefore, we tried to conduct a community-based retrospective study to define this relationship. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 308 enrolled participants from Dongguan, China, were divided into non-hypertension (NHT) and MHT groups. Baseline characteristics were recorded, and echocardiography and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were performed. Linear regression analysis and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used to assess the associations between MHT and GLS in univariate and multivariate models, and the dose-response curve was plotted to demonstrate their relationship. RESULTS: The mean age of the NHT and MHT groups was 57 and 60 years, respectively. Signs of left ventricular diastolic function, E/A was reduced and E/e' was increased in the MHT group while those of the NHT group were nearly normal. The MHT group also showed a significantly lower ("worse") GLS than NHT (-15.2% vs -19.9%, P < 0.001) while left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) did not differ between the groups. Worse GLS was independently and significantly associated with MHT both in univariate (odds ratio [OR]: 1.97, P < 0.001) and stepwise multivariate regression analysis (OR: 1.99, P < 0.001). Comparison of ROC curve results showed that area under curve of GLS was larger than that of E/e' both in unadjusted (0.8673 vs 0.6831) and adjusted model (0.9178 vs 0.8284). Further analysis showed adjusted nonlinear correlation between MHT and GLS. CONCLUSION: Based on the relationship between MHT and GLS, in clinical practice, GLS measurement could facilitate diagnosis for suspected MHT patients and could define the extent of left ventricular dysfunction for diagnosed MHT patients.

Safe Hydration Volume to Prevent Contrast-induced Acute Kidney Injury and Worsening Heart Failure in Patients With Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction After Cardiac Catheterization.

Few studies have investigated the efficacy and safety of hydration to prevent contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) and worsening heart failure (WHF) after cardiac catheterization in heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF; HF and EF ≥50%) patients. We recruited 1206 patients with HFpEF undergoing cardiac catheterization with periprocedural hydration volume/weight (HV/W) ratio data and investigated the relationship between hydration volumes and risk of CI-AKI and WHF. Incidence of CI-AKI was not significantly reduced in individuals with higher HV/W [quartile (Q) 1, Q2, Q3, and Q4: 9.7%, 10.2%, 12.7%, and 12.2%, respectively; P = 0.219]. Multivariate analysis indicated that higher HV/W ratios were not associated with decreased CI-AKI risks [Q2 vs. Q1: odds ratio (OR), 0.95; Q3 vs. Q1: OR, 1.07; Q4 vs. Q1: OR, 0.92; all P > 0.05]. According to multivariate analysis, higher HV/W significantly increased the WHF risk (Q4 vs. Q1: adjusted OR, 8.13 and 95% confidence interval, 1.03-64.02; P = 0.047). CI-AKI and WHF were associated with a significantly increased risk of long-term mortality (mean follow-up, 2.33 years). For HFpEF patients, an excessively high hydration volume might not be associated with lower risk of CI-AKI but may increase the risk of postprocedure WHF.

Association of lipoprotein(a) with long-term mortality following coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: There is no consistent evidence to suggest the association of plasma lipoprotein(a) (Lp[a]) with long-term mortality in patients undergoing coronary angiography (CAG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). HYPOTHESIS: Level of Lp(a) is associated with long-term mortality following CAG or PCI. METHODS: We enrolled 1684 patients with plasma Lp(a) data undergoing CAG or PCI between April 2009 and December 2013. The patients were divided into 2 groups: a low-Lp(a) group (Lp[a] <16.0 mg/dL; n = 842) and a high-Lp(a) group (Lp[a] ≥16.0 mg/dL; n = 842). RESULTS: In-hospital mortality was not significantly different between the high and low Lp(a) groups (0.8% vs 0.5%, respectively; P = 0.364). During the median follow-up period of 1.95 years, the high-Lp(a) group had a higher long-term mortality than did the low-Lp(a) group (5.8% vs 2.5%, respectively; P = 0.003). After adjustment of confounders, multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that a higher Lp(a) level was an independent predictor of long-term mortality (hazard ratio: 1.96, 95% confidence interval: 1.07-3.59, P = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggested that an elevated Lp(a) level was significantly associated with long-term mortality following CAG or PCI. However, additional larger multicenter studies will be required to investigate the predictive value of Lp(a) levels and evaluate the benefit of controlling Lp(a) levels for patients undergoing CAG or PCI.