Predictors of survival in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR): a multicenter retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate cardiac rehabilitation (CR)-derived predictors of outcome in patients discharged from rehabilitation after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data from 232 TAVR patients (aged 82±6 years, 55% females) discharged following an average 3-week residential CR program in the period January 2009 to December 2017. Comorbidities (cumulative illness rated state-comorbidity index, CIRS-CI), echocardiography on admission, disability (Barthel Index [BI]) and functional capacity (6-min walk distance, 6MWD) at discharge, and maximal training session intensity expressed in METs/min were collected. The endpoint was all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Seventy-four (32%) deaths occurred at 3-year follow-up. At discharge, non-survivors had a higher comorbidity rate (CIRS-CI 5.2±2.3 vs. 4.1±1.9, P=0.000), higher disability level (BI 80.4±24 vs. 88.8±17, P=0.000), and worse renal function (creatinine 1.6±0.9 vs. 1.2±0.4 mg/dL, P=0.000). They were also more often on diuretics (73% vs. 53.2%, P=0.003) and beta-blocker therapy (73% vs. 57.6%, P=0.042) and had a markedly reduced functional capacity (6MWD 221±100m vs. 265±105m, P=0.001). At multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, independent predictors of survival at follow-up were lower comorbidity rate, a better-preserved renal function, lower use of diuretics, and a higher 6MWD at discharge (Harrell's C = 0.707). CONCLUSIONS: Patients attending residential CR after TAVR are very old with significant comorbidity. The overall 3-year mortality rate after CR discharge is high. Our findings suggest the need for individually tailored follow-up care in patients discharged from CR after TAVR to address their residual exercise capacity, comorbidities, and renal function impairment.

Association between implantable defibrillator-detected sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation: The DASAP-HF study.

INTRODUCTION: The Respiratory Disturbance Index (RDI) computed by an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) algorithm accurately identifies severe sleep apnea (SA). In the present analysis, we tested the hypothesis that RDI could also predict atrial fibrillation (AF) burden. METHODS: Patients with ejection fraction ≤35% implanted with an ICD were enrolled and followed up for 24 months. One month after implantation, patients underwent a polysomnographic study. The weekly mean RDI value was considered, as calculated during the entire follow-up period and over a 1-week period preceding the sleep study. The endpoints were as follows: daily AF burden of ≥5 min, ≥6 h, ≥23 h. RESULTS: Here, 164 patients had usable RDI values during the entire follow-up period. Severe SA (RDI ≥ 30 episodes/h) was diagnosed in 92 (56%) patients at the time of the sleep study. During follow-up, AF burden ≥ 5 min/day was documented in 70 (43%), ≥6 h/day in 48 (29%), and ≥23 h/day in 33 (20%) patients. Device-detected RDI ≥ 30 episodes/h at the time of the polygraphy, as well as the polygraphy-measured apnea hypopnea index ≥ 30 episodes/h, were not associated with the occurrence of the endpoints, using a Cox regression model. However, using a time-dependent model, continuously measured weekly mean RDI ≥ 30 episodes/h was independently associated with AF burden ≥ 5 min/day (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24-3.65, p = .006), ≥6 h/day (HR: 2.75, 95% CI: 1.37-5.49, p = .004), and ≥23 h/day (HR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.05-4.86, p = .037). CONCLUSIONS: In heart failure patients, ICD-diagnosed severe SA on follow-up data review identifies patients who are from two- to three-fold more likely to experience an AF episode, according to various thresholds of daily AF burden.

Remote heart function monitoring: role of the CardioMEMS HF System.

Heart failure is a pandemic condition that is challenging cardiology today. The primary economical and social burden of this syndrome is hospitalization rate whose costs represent the highest ones within the entire healthcare management. Remote monitoring of physiological data, obtained through self-reporting via telephone calls or, automatically, using external devices is a potential novel approach to implement management of patients with heart failure and reduce hospitalization rates. Relatively large but, sometimes, contradicting information exists about the efficacy of remote monitoring via different noninvasive approaches to reduce the economical and social burden of heart failure management. This leaves still partly unaddressed this critical issue and generates the need for new approaches. In this context, the CardioMEMS device that can chronically monitor pulmonary pressures from a small microchip inserted transvenously in the pulmonary artery seems to represent an innovative tool to challenge hospitalization rates. Consecutive analyses from the CHAMPION study had indeed documented the efficacy of the CardioMEMS in the remote monitoring of the pulmonary circulation status of patients with heart failure and in providing adequate information to optimally manage such patients with the final result of a significant hospitalization rate reduction. The striking information here is that this appears to be true in patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction also. Overall, the reports from the CHAMPION study encourage the use of CardioMEMS but larger populations are needed to definitively prove its value.

Adaptive servo ventilation reduces central sleep apnea in chronic heart failure patients: beneficial effects on autonomic modulation of heart rate.

AIM: Adaptive servo ventilation (ASV) is a method of ventilator support aimed to treat central sleep apnea (CSA). We investigated the effects of an acute use of ASV in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients with CSA and the potential influence on sympathetic nerve activity. METHODS: Patients were studied with ambulatory cardio-respiratory 24 Holter (Somtè) recording of air flow, ECG and oxygen saturation. Comparison before and after ASV treatment was made for apnea index (AI), apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), pulse oxygen saturation, desaturation related to apnea, heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). RESULTS: Seventeen patients were enrolled. At baseline, apnea index and apnea-hypopnea index were, respectively, 16.92 ±â€Š7.8 and 41.37 ±â€Š17.5. During ASV, they significantly decreased to 0.06 ±â€Š0.0 (P < 0.001) and 2.84 ±â€Š1.1 (P < 0.001). The mean and minimal oxygen saturation (%) increased from 94 ±â€Š1 and 86.5 ±â€Š4 to 95 ±â€Š2 (P = 0.04) and 91 ±â€Š2 (P = 0.008). Mean HR decreased from 68 ±â€Š10 to 62 ±â€Š7 beats/min (P < 0.003). In 11 out of 17 patients, HRV was calculated, documenting a significant improvement of the standard deviation of the average of NN - normal sinus to normal sinus (SDANN), standard deviation of NN intervals (SDNN) and SDNN index (respectively, 71.5 ±â€Š31.1 vs. 80.4 ±â€Š36.1, P = 0.008; 99.7 ±â€Š31.3 vs. 112.7 ±â€Š37.5, P = 0.003; 57.8 ±â€Š20.7 vs. 69.3 ±â€Š30.8, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The acute use of ASV is effective on CSA by increasing oxygen saturation and reducing HR. Moreover, the significant improvement of HRV highlights ASV's benefit in moderating the sympathetic adrenergic tone.

A hybrid approach for continuous detection of sleep-wakefulness fluctuations: validation in patients with Cheyne-Stokes respiration.

Fluctuations in sleep/wake state have been proposed as an important mechanism contributing to the development of oscillatory breathing patterns, including Cheyne-Stokes respiration in patients with heart failure. In order to properly assess the interactions between changes in state and changes in ventilatory parameters, a methodology capable of continuously and reliably detecting state transitions is needed. Traditional fixed-epoch analysis of polysomnographic recordings is not suitable for this purpose. Moreover, visual identification of changes in the dominant electroencephalogram activity at the transition from wakefulness to sleep and vice versa is often very subjective. We have therefore developed a hybrid approach--including both visual scoring and computer-based procedures--for continuous analysis of state transitions from polysomnographic recordings, specifically tailored for fluctuations between wakefulness and non-rapid eye movement-1 and -2 sleep. The overall analysis process comprises three major phases: (1) manual identification of relevant electroencephalogram/electrooculogram features and events, including a sample of unequivocal alpha and theta-delta activity; (2) automatic statistical discrimination of dominant electroencephalogram activity; and (3) state classification (wakefulness, non-rapid eye movement-1 and -2). The latter is carried out by merging information from visual scoring with the output of the discriminator. Validation has been carried out in 16 patients with heart failure during daytime Cheyne-Stokes respiration, using a training and testing set of electroencephalogram polysomnograms. The statistical discriminator correctly classified 99.1 ± 1.4% and 99.2 ± 1.1% of unequivocal alpha and theta-delta activity. This approach has therefore the potential to be used to reliably measure the incidence and location of sleep-wake transitions during abnormal breathing patterns, as well as their temporal relationship with major ventilatory events.

Comparison of the prognostic values of invasive and noninvasive assessments of baroreflex sensitivity in heart failure.

OBJECTIVES: No studies have compared the prognostic values of invasive (phenylephrine, Phe) and noninvasive (transfer function) assessments of baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). METHODS: Three hundred and one heart failure patients [age: 53 ±â€Š8 years, New York Heart Association class II-III: 88%, left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF): 28 ±â€Š8%] underwent an 8 min ECG and arterial pressure recording, followed by Phe administration. RESULTS: Phe-BRS and transfer function BRS (TF-BRS) could be measured in 89 and 72% of cases, respectively. The correlation and the 5-95th percentiles of the difference between the two methods were 0.61 (P < 0.0001), and -7.6, +7.5 ms/mmHg, respectively. During a median of 36 months, 23% of the patients experienced a cardiac event. In the common dataset of 202 patients, both BRS measurements (<3 ms/mmHg) were significantly associated with the outcome (both P < 0.001), but Phe-BRS had a better discriminatory power (area under the curve (AUC): 0.74 vs. 0.66, P  = 0.03). Patients with a missing BRS (due to high grade ectopic activity) had a higher event rate (Phe-BRS: 38 vs. 24%, P  = 0.23; TF-BRS: 37 vs. 19%, P  = 0.002). Using this information, a prognostic index was derived for each BRS method, increasing measurability to 94 and 98%, respectively. Both indexes significantly predicted the outcome after adjustment for clinical covariates [hazard ratio (95% CI): 1.9 (1.1-3.3), P  = 0.03 for Phe index and 2.0 (1.1-3.7), P  = 0.02 for transfer function index]. CONCLUSION: Although the measurability of TF-BRS in heart failure patients is impaired, prognostic information can be extended to almost all patients, with a predictive power similar to that of Phe-BRS. The two measurements, however, convey a certain amount of independent prognostic information. Hence, TF-BRS can be integrated with but not replace Phe-BRS.