Pulmonary ultrasound in diagnosis of pulmonary congestion in patients with heart failure

Background: Patients with heart failure (HF) often display dyspnea associated with pulmonary congestion, along with intravascular congestion, both may result in urgent hospitalization and subsequent death. A combination of radiographic pulmonary congestion and plasma volume might screen patients with a high risk of in-hospital mortality in the emergency department (ED).Methods: In the pathway of dyspneic patients in emergency (PARADISE) cohort, patients admitted for acute HF were stratified into 4 groups based on high or low congestion score index (CSI, ranging from 0 to 3, high value indicating severe congestion) and estimated plasma volume status (ePVS) calculated from hemoglobin/hematocrit.Results: In a total of 252 patients (mean age, 81.9 years; male, 46.8%), CSI and ePVS were not correlated (Spearman rho <0 .10, p > 0.10). High CSI/high ePVS was associated with poorer renal function, but clinical congestion markers (i.e., natriuretic peptide) were comparable across CSI/ePVS categories. High CSI/high ePVS was associated with a four-fold higher risk of in-hospital mortality (adjusted-OR, 95%CI = 4.20, 1.10-19.67) compared with low CSI/low ePVS, whereas neither high CSI nor ePVS alone was associated with poor prognosis (all-p-value > 0.10; Pinteraction = 0.03). High CSI/high ePVS improved a routine risk model (i.e., natriuretic peptide and lactate)(NRI = 46.9%, p = 0.02), resulting in high prediction of risk of in-hospital mortality (AUC = 0.85, 0.82-0.89).Conclusion: In patients hospitalized for acute HF with relatively old age and comorbidity burdens, a combination of CSI and ePVS was associated with a risk of in-hospital death, and improved prognostic performance on top of a conventional risk model.

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A Simplified Ultrasound Comet Tail Grading Scoring to Assess Pulmonary Congestion in Patients with Heart Failure

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2018/8474839 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hong Li ◽

Yi-Dan Li ◽

Wei-Wei Zhu ◽

Ling-Yun Kong ◽

Xiao-Guang Ye ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Pulmonary Artery ◽

Pulmonary Artery Pressure ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

Left Ventricular Ejection ◽

Systolic Pulmonary Artery Pressure ◽

Pulmonary Congestion ◽

Functional Classification ◽

Artery Pressure ◽

Patients With Heart Failure

Ultrasound lung comets (ULCs) are a nonionizing bedside approach to assess extravascular lung water. We evaluated a protocol for grading ULC score to estimate pulmonary congestion in heart failure patients and investigated clinical and echocardiographic correlates of the ULC score. Ninety-three patients with congestive heart failure, admitted to the emergency department, underwent pulmonary ultrasound and echocardiography. A ULC score was obtained by summing the ULC scores of 7 zones of anterolateral chest scans. The results of ULC score were compared with echocardiographic results, the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification, radiologic score, and N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Positive linear correlations were found between the 7-zone ULC score and the following: E/e′, systolic pulmonary artery pressure, severity of mitral regurgitation, left ventricular global longitudinal strain, NYHA functional classification, radiologic score, and NT-proBNP. However, there was no significant correlation between ULC score and left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricle diameter, left ventricular volume, or left atrial volume. A multivariate analysis identified the E/e′, systolic pulmonary artery pressure, and radiologic score as the only independent variables associated with ULC score increase. The simplified 7-zone ULC score is a rapid and noninvasive method to assess lung congestion. Diastolic rather than systolic performance may be the most important determinant of the degree of lung congestion in patients with heart failure.

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