High-sensitive troponin T increase after hemodialysis is associated with left ventricular global longitudinal strain and ultrafiltration rate.

BACKGROUND: Circulating troponin levels are both stable and higher in patients with end-stage renal disease, even in the absence of acute coronary syndrome. These patients commonly have underlying cardiac problems that frequently cause troponin elevation. The effect of hemodialysis (HD) on troponin levels has not been well elucidated. Thus, investigated herein is the relationship between the changes in troponin levels along with left ventricular deformation and volume depletion in patients with end-stage renal disease. METHODS: Patients included were between 18 and 85 years of age and were receiving hemodialysis for at least 6 months. High sensitive cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) levels were studied in blood samples taken at the beginning and end of HD. Two-dimensional speckle tracking strain imaging was used to evaluate myocardial contractility. RESULTS: Seventy patients (50.7 ± 16.9 years of age, 27 women) were included in study. The mean volume of ultrafiltration was 3260 ± 990 mL. A significant increase in circulating hs-cTnT levels was observed, as well as a prominent decrease in left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) after HD (52.4 ± 40.2 ng/L vs. 66.8 ± 48.5 ng/L, p < 0.001 and 20.1 ± 3.6% vs. 16.8 ± 3.8% p < 0.001, respectively). Moreover, ultrafiltration rate and GLS were found as the strongest independent variables in relation to the relative increase in hs-cTnT. CONCLUSIONS: Hemodialysis can cause a significant increase in hsTnT. This can jeopardize the accuracy of clinical diagnoses based on hs-TnT measurements. GLS may be used as a determinant of this hs-TnT increase. The influence of HD on the cardiovascular system should be kept in mind to prevent unnecessary interventions.

An old friend: uric acid and its association with fractional flow reserve

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of preprocedural uric acid (UA) level in predicting fractional flow reserve (FFR) results of intermediate coronary lesions in patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing coronary angiography. Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed 293 patients who underwent FFR measurement to determine the significance of intermediate coronary stenosis detected by conventional coronary angiography. Patients were divided into 2 groups: Group 1 (n = 127) included patients with FFR of <0.80 (hemodynamically significant lesions), and Group 2 (n = 169) consisted of patients with FFR of >0.80 (hemodynamically nonsignificant lesions). Uric acid levels were assessed in both groups with the enzymatic colorimetric method by clinical chemistry autoanalyzer. Results: The mean UA level was significantly higher in patients whose FFR indicated hemodynamically significant coronary lesions (UA: 5.43 ± 1.29 mg/dL in Group 1 vs. 4.51 ± 1.34 mg/dL in Group 2, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Elevated UA levels are associated with hemodynamically significant coronary lesions measured with FFR. Uric acid may be used as a predictor of hemodynamically compromised coronary lesions before FFR procedures.

The impact of volume overload on right heart function in end-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of volume overload on echocardiographic parameters used for the assessment of the right ventricle (RV) and right atrium (RA), to determine volume-independent parameters and to noninvasively investigate the physio-mechanics of RV and RA by examining end-stage kidney patients before and after hemodialysis (HD). METHODS: The echocardiographic images were obtained from 67 patients (49.2 ± 17.3 years, 23 f) before and after HD. Changes in echocardiographic parameters with HD were examined. The average ultrafiltrated volume was 3088.1 ± 1103.7 mL. RESULTS: The size of RV and RA and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) decreased after HD, whereas myocardial performance index increased. RV fractional area change and iso-volumetric contraction acceleration time remained unchanged. RV global longitudinal strain (GLS) and RV early diastolic strain rate (SR) decreased after HD. Systolic and late diastolic SR of the RV showed no statistically significant difference after HD. Longitudinal strain and SR of RA contraction were not significantly different after HD. The changes in RV GLS (r = .641, P = .027), RV free wall longitudinal strain (r = .643, P < .001), RA reservoir phase strain (r = .60, P = .008), and TAPSE (r = .642, P = .001) significantly correlated with ultrafiltrated volume. CONCLUSION: Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography is an easy and noninvasive tool that could provide additional volume-independent echocardiographic parameters and more information on RA physio-mechanics. This might lead to a better evaluation of the cardiac pathophysiology and hemodynamics of patients. Moreover, providing novel volume-independent parameters for the evaluation of right heart chambers would improve the clinical perspectives of patients.

Fragmented QRS can predict severity of aortic stenosis.

BACKGROUND: Fragmented QRS (fQRS) is an indicator of nonhomogeneous ventricular activity caused by myocardial fibrosis. Aortic stenosis (AS) is known to be a cause of myocardial fibrosis. We aimed to investigate the relationship of fQRS with severity of AS, echocardiographic, and electrocardiographic findings, and development of atrial fibrillation and manifest heart failure in AS patients. METHODS: One hundred four patients with moderate and severe AS were recruited for the study. Patients with mitral or tricuspid stenosis, previous myocardial infarction, segmental wall motion abnormality or left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) below 50% and patients with complete-incomplete BBB and pacemaker rhythm were excluded. RESULTS: Mean age of the patients was 69 ± 14.8 and 73.1% had fQRS. Patients with fQRS had lower LVEF, higher mean QRS duration, intrinsic deflection, Cornell voltage, Romhilt-Estes Score, systolic pulmonary artery pressure, mean and peak systolic transaortic gradients and left atrium diameter. Manifest heart failure was more frequent in patients with fQRS. In stepwise multivariate logistic regression analyze, manifest heart failure, peak systolic transaortic gradient, LVEF, intrinsic deflection, strain pattern and Cornell voltage were independently associated with fQRS. Strain pattern and fQRS were found as independent predictors of severe AS. CONCLUSIONS: fQRS is independently associated with the severity of AS while traditional LVH criteria, except strain pattern, are not. fQRS may be better than traditional ECG criteria of LVH and echocardiographic LVH as an indicator of myocardial fibrosis in AS. Thus, fQRS may have a role in determining the severity and prognosis of AS.