Importance of echocardiography in patients with severe nonischemic heart failure: the second Prospective Randomized Amlodipine Survival Evaluation (PRAISE-2) echocardiographic study.

BACKGROUND: Echocardiography is used commonly in clinical practice when caring for patients with heart failure. It is unknown whether the presence of certain findings provides an incremental ability to predict survival beyond the use of baseline clinical findings alone. The second PRAISE-2 echocardiographic study was prospectively designed to identify echocardiographic predictors of survival among patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy and heart failure and to determine if components of the echocardiographic examination add prognostic information to baseline demographic and clinical information. METHODS: One hundred patients participated in the second Prospective Randomized Amlodipine Survival Evaluation Study (PRAISE-2) echocardiographic study; of these, 93 had full and interpretable echocardiographic examinations. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to assess the relation between various characteristics and survival as well as to assess the incremental prognostic information gained by echocardiography beyond the clinical examination. RESULTS: Seven of 10 routine echocardiographic measures were significantly associated with death. These included mitral regurgitation (hazard ratio [HR], 2.31; 95% CI, 1.02, 5.27), left ventricular ejection fraction <20% (HR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.14, 5.88), restrictive left ventricular filling pattern (HR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.05, 5.32), and peak D velocity (HR, 1.62; 95% CI, 0.38, 0.87). The only statistically significant clinical predictor of survival was dyspnea at rest. The addition any of several echocardiographic parameters to baseline clinical information significantly improved the ability to predict survival. CONCLUSIONS: Several readily available echocardiographic parameters are predictive of death and when added to clinical examination findings significantly improve the ability to determine prognosis among patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy and heart failure.

Acute coronary syndromes and diabetes mellitus.

Patients with diabetes mellitus who present with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction or non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes have a higher risk of adverse outcomes than patients without diabetes, and appear to derive greater benefit from evidence-based therapies. However, patients with diabetes mellitus are less commonly treated with proven therapies, so renewed efforts are needed to improve the quality of care and outcomes for patients with diabetes mellitus who present with acute coronary syndromes.

Survival after coronary revascularization, with and without mitral valve surgery, in patients with ischemic mitral regurgitation.

BACKGROUND: The most appropriate treatment for patients with ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is often debated. We compared the survival rates of patients with IMR undergoing different treatment strategies, namely: medical therapy, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and CABG + mitral valve (MV) surgery. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients undergoing catheterization between 1986 and 2001 were included. IMR was defined as: >or=grade 2+ mitral regurgitation (MR) and significant coronary artery disease (CAD) without primary mitral valve disease. Patients undergoing catheterization for the evaluation of congenital or other valvular heart disease were excluded. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling was utilized to assess the independent relation between treatment and survival. Propensity score methods were used to correct for the nonrandom assignment of treatment. Of the 2,757 patients who met study criteria: 1,305 were treated medically, 537 underwent PCI, 687 underwent CABG, and 228 underwent CABG + MV surgery. The median duration of follow-up was 3.2 (0.9, 7.1) years. Patients undergoing CABG + MV surgery had more severe MR and more severe heart failure than those treated by other modalities. After adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics, patients undergoing PCI, CABG, and CABG + MV surgery had a 31% (hazards ratio [HR]=0.69; P=0.0001), 42% (HR=0.58; P=0.0001), and 42% (HR=0.58; P=0.0001) reduction in the risk of death, respectively, compared with those undergoing medical therapy. The performance of mitral valve surgery with CABG was not associated with improved survival versus CABG alone (P=0.258). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with IMR, treatment with PCI, CABG, or CABG + MV surgery is associated with improved survival compared with medical therapy.

Relation of frequency and severity of mitral regurgitation to survival among patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and heart failure.

The goal of this study was to examine the frequency of mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients with left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction and to relate its presence and severity to long-term survival. Remodeling of the left ventricle after myocyte injury leads to a progressive change in LV size and shape, and it may lead to the development of MR. The frequency of MR and its relation to survival in patients with LV systolic dysfunction has not been completely characterized. We analyzed the histories, coronary anatomy, and degree of MR in patients with symptomatic heart failure and LV ejection fraction <40% who underwent cardiac catheterization between 1986 and 2000. Cox's proportional hazards modeling was used to assess the independent effect of MR on survival. Two thousand fifty-seven patients met study criteria; MR was common in this cohort (56.2%). Of patients with MR, 811 (70.1%) had mild (grades 1+ or 2+) and 345 (29.8%) had moderate or severe (grades 3+ or 4+) regurgitation. Survival rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were significantly lower in patients with moderate to severe MR versus those with mild or no MR (p <0.001). MR was found to be an independent predictor of mortality after multivariable analysis (hazards ratio 1.23, 95% confidence interval 1.13 to 1.34, p = 0.0001). This relation of MR and survival was present in those with ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathies. MR is common in patients with LV systolic dysfunction and heart failure. After adjusting for other clinical variables, the presence of MR independently predicted worsened survival.