Elevated B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Level Despite Preserved Ejection Fraction in Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients: Impact of Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction

Background The prevalence of undetected left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is high, especially in the elderly with comorbidities. Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is a prognostic indicator of heart failure, in particularly of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and of future cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Therefore we aimed to develop sex-specific diagnostic models to enable the early identification of men and women at high-risk of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction with or without symptoms of heart failure who require more aggressive preventative strategies. Design Individual patient data from four primary care heart failure-screening studies were analysed (1371 participants, excluding patients classified as heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction <50%). Methods Eleven candidate predictors were entered into logistic regression models to be associated with the presence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction/heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in men and women separately. Internal-external cross-validation was performed to develop and validate the models. Results Increased age and β-blocker therapy remained as predictors in both the models for men and women. The model for men additionally consisted of increased body mass index, moderate to severe shortness of breath, increased pulse pressure and history of ischaemic heart disease. The models performed moderately and similarly well in men (c-statistics range 0.60–0.75) and women (c-statistics range 0.51–0.76) and the performance improved significantly following the addition of N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (c-statistics range 0.61–0.80 in women and 0.68–0.80 in men). Conclusions We provide an easy-to-use screening tool for use in the community, which can improve the early detection of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction/heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in high-risk men and women and optimise tailoring of preventive interventions.

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Preload-corrected dynamic Starling mechanism in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/japplphysiol.00718.2017 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 124 (1) ◽

pp. 76-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Michinari Hieda ◽

Erin Howden ◽

Shigeki Shibata ◽

Takashi Tarumi ◽

Justin Lawley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Ejection Fraction ◽

Diastolic Dysfunction ◽

Diastolic Pressure ◽

Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

Preserved Ejection Fraction ◽

Dynamic Modulation ◽

Power Spectral ◽

Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction

The beat-to-beat dynamic Starling mechanism (DSM), the dynamic modulation of stroke volume (SV) because of breath-by-breath changes in left-ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), reflects ventricular-arterial coupling. The purpose of this study was to test whether the LVEDP-SV relationship remained impaired in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients after normalization of LVEDP. Right heart catheterization and model-flow analysis of the arterial pressure waveform were performed while preload was manipulated using lower-body negative pressure to alter LVEDP. The DSM was compared at similar levels of LVEDP between HFpEF patients ( n = 10) and age-matched healthy controls ( n = 12) (HFpEF vs. controls: 10.9 ± 3.8 vs. 11.2 ± 1.3 mmHg, P = 1.00). Transfer function analysis between diastolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAD) representing dynamic changes in LVEDP vs. SV index was applied to obtain gain and coherence of the DSM. The DSM gain was significantly lower in HFpEF patients than in the controls, even at a similar level of LVEDP (0.46 ± 0.19 vs. 0.99 ± 0.39 ml·m−2·mmHg−1, P = 0.0018). Moreover, the power spectral density of PAD, the input variability, was greater in the HFpEF group than the controls (0.75 ± 0.38 vs. 0.28 ± 0.26 mmHg2, P = 0.01). Conversely, the power spectral density of SV index, the output variability, was not different between the groups ( P = 0.97). There was no difference in the coherence, which confirms the reliability of the linear transfer function between the two groups (0.71 ± 0.13 vs. 0.77 ± 0.19, P = 0.87). The DSM gain in HFpEF patients is impaired compared with age-matched controls even at a similar level of LVEDP, which may reflect intrinsic LV diastolic dysfunction and incompetence of ventricular-arterial coupling. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The beat-to-beat dynamic Starling mechanism (DSM), the dynamic modulation of stroke volume because of breath-by-breath changes in left-ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), reflects ventricular-arterial coupling. Although the DSM gain is impaired in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients, it is not clear whether this is because of higher LVEDP or left-ventricular diastolic dysfunction. The DSM gain in HFpEF patients is severely impaired, even at a similar level of LVEDP, which may reflect intrinsic left-ventricular diastolic dysfunction.

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