681 Ventricular fibrosis affects diastolic function and atrial remodelling long-term after aortic valve replacement for aortic valve stenosis

Aims Aortic stenosis (AS) is characterized both by progressive valve narrowing and left ventricular remodelling response. Myocardial fibrosis has significant functional consequences and is the key pathological process driving left ventricular decompensation. Furthermore, studies suggest that myocardial fibrosis is irreversible, despite surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The study aims to define the association between myocardial fibrosis and long-term diastolic and atrial function after SAVR, which are both markers of poor clinical outcomes. Methods We evaluated patients with isolated AS and no-coronary artery disease referred for SAVR in 2015. All of them received a biological valve and a left ventricular biopsy was performed at the time of surgery. Clinical and echocardiographic evaluation was performed before surgery and after about 6 years, including fully automated 2D speckle tracking analysis software (TomTec). Atrial function was evaluated with PALS, PACS, and LAVi/septal a’ TDI. Results Nineteen patients completed the follow-up and formed the study cohort, age 72 ± 6 years, 42% female, ejection fraction 63 ± 6.4%, mean fibrosis 26.4 ± 12.7%. Significant myocardial fibrosis (> 33%) was found in 13/19 patients (68%). Although similar at baseline, after 5.6±0.5 years, PACS was significantly higher in patients with low myocardial fibrosis (13.7±4.2 vs. 8.0±3.8, P=0.01), the same trends were observed for PALS (24.1±7.9 vs. 17.0±6.6, P=0.07) and LAVi/septal a’TDI (5.4±1.3 vs. 7.4±2.8, P=0.06). The diastolic profile at long term follow-up was also significantly worsened in patients with LV fibrosis: E/A 0.9±0.3 vs. 1.3±0.4 P= 0.03 and E/e’ 10.6±3.3 vs. 16.6±4.5 P=0.01). Conclusions Myocardial fibrosis at the time of SAVR strongly influences long-term diastolic Doppler profile and atrial function with potentially harmful consequences on clinical status and ventricular performance.

Effect of ivabradine in heart failure: a meta-analysis of heart failure patients with reduced versus preserved ejection fraction

In clinical trials of heart failure reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), ivabradine seemed to be an effective heart rate lowering agent associated with lower risk of cardiovascular death. In contrast, ivabradine failed to improve cardiovascular outcomes in heart failure preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) despite the significant effect on heart rate. This meta-analysis is the first to compare the effects of ivabradine on heart rate and mortality parameters in HFpEF versus HFrEF. We screened three databases: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library. The outcomes of these studies were mortality, reduction in heart rate, and left ventricular function improvement. We compared the efficacy of ivabradine treatment in HFpEF versus HFrEF. Heart rate analysis of pooled data showed decrease in both HFrEF (–17.646 beats/min) and HFpEF (–11.434 beats/min), and a tendency to have stronger bradycardic effect in HFrEF (p = 0.094) in randomized clinical trials. Left ventricular ejection fraction analysis revealed significant improvement in HFrEF (5.936, 95% CI: [4.199–7.672], p < 0.001) when compared with placebo (p < 0.001). We found that ivabradine significantly improves left ventricular performance in HFrEF, at the same time it exerts a tendency to have improved bradycardic effect in HFrEF. These disparate effects of ivabradine and the higher prevalence of non-cardiac comorbidities in HFpEF may explain the observed beneficial effects in HFrEF and the unchanged outcomes in HFpEF patients after ivabradine treatment.

Higher Ventricular-Arterial Coupling Derived from Three-Dimensional Echocardiography Is Associated with a Worse Clinical Outcome in Systemic Sclerosis

Primary myocardial involvement is common in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Ventricular-arterial coupling (VAC) reflecting the interplay between ventricular performance and arterial load, is a key determinant of cardiovascular (CV) performance. We aimed to investigate VAC, VAC-derived indices, and the potential association between altered VAC and survival free from death/hospitalization for major adverse CV events (MACE) in scleroderma. Only SSc patients without any anamnestic and echocardiographic evidence of primary myocardial involvement who underwent three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) were included in this cross-sectional study and compared with healthy matched controls. 3DE was used for noninvasive measurements of end-systolic elastance (Ees), arterial elastance (Ea), VAC (Ea/Ees) and end-diastolic elastance (Eed); the occurrence of death/hospitalization for MACE was recorded during follow-up. Sixty-five SSc patients (54 female; aged 56 ± 14 years) were included. Ees (p = 0.04), Ea (p = 0.04) and Eed (p = 0.01) were higher in patients vs. controls. Thus, VAC was similar in both groups. Ees was lower and VAC was higher in patients with diffuse cutaneous form (dcSSc) vs. patients with limited form (lcSSc) (p = 0.001 and p = 0.02, respectively). Over a median follow-up of 4 years, four patients died for heart failure and 34 were hospitalized for CV events. In patients with VAC > 0.63 the risk of MACE was higher (HR 2.5; 95% CI 1.13–5.7; p = 0.01) and survival free from death/hospitalization was lower (p = 0.005) than in those with VAC < 0.63. Our study suggests that VAC may be impaired in SSc patients without signs and symptoms of primary myocardial involvement. Moreover, VAC appears to have a prognostic role in SSc.

Neurodevelopmental outcome following hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy and therapeutic hypothermia is related to right ventricular performance at 24-hour postnatal age

ObjectiveOur aim was to determine whether right ventricular (RV) dysfunction at 24-hour postnatal age predicts adverse developmental outcome among patients with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) undergoing therapeutic hypothermia (TH).DesignNeonates≥35 weeks with HIE/TH were enrolled in a physiological study in the neonatal period (n=46) and either died or underwent neurodevelopmental follow-up at 18 months (n=43). The primary outcome was a composite of death, diagnosis of cerebral palsy or any component of the Bayley Scores of Infant Development III<70. We hypothesised that tricuspid annulus plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) <6 mm and/or RV fractional area change (RV-FAC) <0.29 would predict adverse outcome.ResultsNine patients died and 34 patients were followed up at a mean age of 18.9±1.4 months. Both indices of RV systolic performance were abnormal in 15 (35%) patients, TAPSE <6 mm only was abnormal in 4 (9%) patients and RV-FAC <0.29 only was abnormal in 5 (12%) patients (19 had with normal RV function). Although similar at admission, neonates with RV dysfunction had higher cardiovascular and neurological illness severity by 24 hours than those without and severe MRI abnormalities (70% vs 53%, p=0.01) were more common. On logistic regression, TAPSE <6 mm (OR 3.6, 95% CI 1.2 to 10.1; p=0.017) and abnormal brain MRI [OR 21.7, 95% CI 1.4 to 336; p=0.028) were independently associated with adverse outcome. TAPSE <6 mm predicted outcome with a 91% sensitivity and 81% specificity.ConclusionsThe role of postnatal cardiovascular function on neurological outcomes among patients with HIE who receive TH merits further study. Quantitative measurement of RV function at 24 hours may provide an additional neurological prognostic tool.

Associations between the Severity of the Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome and Echocardiographic Abnormalities in Previously Healthy Outpatients Following Infection with SARS-CoV-2

The COVID-19 pandemic affected over 130 million individuals during more than one year. Due to the overload of health-care services, a great number of people were treated as outpatients, many of them subsequently developing post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. Our study was conducted on 150 subjects without a history of cardiovascular diseases, treated as outpatients for a mild/moderate form of COVID-19 4 to 12 weeks prior to study inclusion, and who were diagnosed with post-acute COVID-19 and attended a cardiology evaluation with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) for persisting symptoms. We detected various cardiac abnormalities in 38 subjects (25.33%), including pulmonary hypertension (9.33%), impaired left ventricular performance (8.66%), diastolic dysfunction (14%) and/or evidence of pericarditis (10%). We highlighted statistically significant correlations between the intensity of symptoms and quality of life scores with the severity of initial pulmonary injury, the number of weeks since COVID-19 and with TTE parameters characterizing the systolic and diastolic performance and pulmonary hypertension (p < 0.001). (Post-acute COVID-19 is a complex syndrome characterized by various symptoms, the intensity of which seem to be related to the severity and the time elapsed since the acute infection, and with persisting cardiac abnormalities.

MO742PRELOAD DEPENDENCE OF PULMONARY HAEMODYNAMICS AND RIGHT VENTRICULAR PERFORMANCE: AN ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC STUDY IN PATIENTS ON HAEMODIALYSIS

Background and Aims Haemodynamic cardiac changes in haemodialysis are associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes and and they are difficult to measure. Systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) and right heart adaptation in relation to pre-existing preload are often disregarded. To determine volume-related changes in the pulmonary-right ventricle (RV) unit and the preload-dependence of its components, we analysed pulmonary haemodynamics and right ventricular performance, taking advantage of the plasma volume removal associated to haemodialysis (HD). Methods and results Fifty-three stable patients on chronic HD with LVEF &gt;50% and without heart failure were recruited (mean age 63.0±12.4 years; 31.2% women; hypertension in 89% and diabetes in 53%) and evaluated just before and after HD (mean ultrafiltration volume 2.4±0.7l). SPAP from both times were available in 39 patients. After HD, SPAP decreased (42.2±12.6 to 33.7±11.6 mmHg, p&lt;0.001) without modification of non-invasive pulmonary vascular resistance (1.75±0.44 to 1.75±0.40 eWU, p=0.94). Age and drop in the E/e’ ratio were the variables associated with greater reduction in PASP (p=0.022 and p=0.049, respectively). A significant reduction of right chamber sizes was observed, along with a diminution in measures of RV contractility, excluding RV longitudinal strain. Functional tricuspid regurgitation (FTR) diminution was observed in 26% of patients, occurring in every case with more than mild FTR. On multivariate analyses, left atrial size was the only predictor of pulmonary hypertension (defined as SPAP &gt;40 mmHg) (OR 1.29 (1.07–1.56), p=0.006). Conclusion Rapid volemic changes determined by rapid fluid removal during hemodialysis; may affect FTR grading, RV size and contractility, with RV longitudinal strain being less variable than conventional parameters. SPAP decreases after HD, and this reduction is related to age and greater diminution of the E/e′ ratio.