Non-Invasive Estimation of Left Ventricular Filling Pressure Based on Left Atrial Area Strain Measured With Transthoracic 3-Dimensional Speckle Tracking Echocardiography in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: Chronic elevation of left ventricular (LV) diastolic pressure (DP) or chronic elevation of left atrial (LA) pressure, which is required to maintain LV filling, may determine LA wall deformation. We investigated this issue using transthoracic 3-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3D-STE). Methods and Results: We retrospectively enrolled 75 consecutive patients with sinus rhythm and suspected stable coronary artery disease who underwent diagnostic cardiac catheterization and 3D-STE on the same day. We computed the global LA wall area change ratio, termed the global LA area strain (GLAS), during both the reservoir phase (GLAS-r) and contraction phase (GLAS-ct). The LVDP at end-diastole (LVEDP) and mean LVDP (mLVDP) were measured with a catheter-tipped micromanometer in each patient. GLAS-r and GLAS-ct were significantly correlated with both mLVDP (r=-0.70 [P<0.001] and r=0.71 [P<0.001], respectively) and LVEDP (r=-0.63 [P<0.001] and r=0.65 [P<0.001], respectively). In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the optimal cut-off values for diagnosing elevated LVEDP (≥16 mmHg) were 75.7% (sensitivity 83.3%, specificity 77.8%) for GLAS-r and -43.1% (sensitivity 90.0%, specificity 80.0%) for GLAS-ct. Similarly, for diagnosing elevated mLVDP (≥12 mmHg), the cut-off values were 63.6% (sensitivity 88.9%, specificity 80.3%) for GLAS-r and -26.2% (sensitivity 66.7%, specificity 97.0%) for GLAS-ct. Conclusions: We showed that 3D-STE-derived GLAS values could be used to non-invasively diagnose elevated LV filling pressure.

Correlation Between Longitudinal Strain in the Apical Segments of the Left Ventricle at End-Systole Obtained by 2-Dimensional Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography and Left Ventricular Relaxation.

BACKGROUND: It is well acknowledged that left ventricular (LV) contractile performance affects LV relaxation via LV elastic recoil. Accordingly, we aimed to investigate whether global longitudinal strain (GLS), particularly longitudinal strain at LV apical segments at end-systole (ALS), obtained by 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography could be used to assess LV relaxation.Methods and Results:We enrolled 121 patients with suspected or definite coronary artery disease in whom echocardiography and diagnostic cardiac catheterization were performed on the same day. We obtained conventional echo-Doppler parameters and GLS, as well as ALS prior to catheterization. LV functional parameters were obtained from the LV pressure recorded using a catheter-tipped micromanometer. In all patients, GLS and ALS were significantly correlated with the time constant τ of LV pressure decay during isovolumetric relaxation (r=0.63 [P<0.001] and r=0.66 [P<0.001], respectively). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for identifying impaired LV relaxation (τ ≥48 ms) revealed that ALS greater than -22.3% was an optimal cut-off value, with 81.7% sensitivity and 82.4% specificity. Even in patients with preserved LV ejection fraction, the same ALS cut-off value enabled the identification of impaired LV relaxation with 70% sensitivity and 87.5% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that contractile dysfunction at LV apical segments slows LV relaxation via loss of LV elastic recoil, even in patients with preserved LVEF.

Physical activity and mortality in older patients with a pacemaker.

AIM: With increasing lifespans, patients requiring a pacemaker are older than they were in the past. Data regarding all-cause mortality in older patients implanted with a pacemaker are scarce. As physical activity is associated with a decrease in all-cause mortality, we investigated whether daily physical activity time, expressed as the activity rate determined by pacemakers, can predict all-cause mortality in older patients (aged ≥75 years) with a pacemaker. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the baseline characteristics, echocardiographic indices, laboratory data and pacemaker parameters of 107 consecutive older patients with a newly implanted pacemaker at our hospital (age 83.8 ± 5.0 years; 54.2% men). The study end-point was all-cause mortality. RESULTS: During the follow-up period (mean 3.0 years), 21 cases of all-cause death were reported. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for activity rate to predict all-cause mortality was 0.82 (95% confidence interval 0.72-0.92, P < 0.001). An activity rate of 3.4% (50 min/day) had a sensitivity of 86.0% and a specificity of 66.7% for predicting all-cause mortality. The survival rate was significantly higher among patients with an activity rate ≥3.4% than among those with an activity rate <3.4% (log-rank, P < 0.001). A multivariate Cox regression analysis identified low activity rates as a predictor of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 15.0, 95% confidence interval 4.29-52.6; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Low activity rates appear to be a strong predictor of all-cause mortality in older patients with a pacemaker. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 106-111.