Prevalence, correlates and in-hospital outcomes of kidney dysfunction in hospitalized patients with heart failure in Buea-Cameroon

Background Kidney dysfunction is common in patients with heart failure (HF) and has been associated with poor outcomes. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, correlates, and prognosis of kidney dysfunction in patients with HF in Cameroon, an understudied population. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in consecutive patients hospitalized with HF between June 2016 and November 2017 in the Buea Regional Hospital, Cameroon. Kidney dysfunction was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 ml/min/1.73m2. Prognostic outcomes included death and prolonged hospital stay (> 7 days). We also performed a sensitivity analysis excluding racial considerations. Results Seventy four patients (86.1% of those eligible) were included. Their median age was 60 (interquartile range: 44–72) years and 46.0% (n = 34) were males. Half of patients (n = 37) had kidney dysfunction. Correlates of kidney dysfunction included previous diagnosis of HF (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]4.3, 95% CI: 1.1–17.5) and left ventricular hypertrophy (aOR3.4, 95% CI: 1.1–9.9). Thirty-six (48.9%) had prolonged hospital stay, and seven (9.5%) patients died in hospital. Kidney dysfunction was not associated with in-hospital death (aOR 0.4, 95% CI: 0.1–2) nor prolonged hospital stay (aOR 2.04, 0.8–5.3). In sensitivity analysis (excluding racial consideration), factors associated with Kidney dysfunction in HF were; anemia (aOR: 3.0, 95% CI: 1.1–8.5), chronic heart failure (aOR: 4.7, 95% CI: 0.9–24.6), heart rate on admission < 90 bpm (aOR: 3.4, 95% CI: 1.1–9.1), left atrial dilation (aOR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.04–10), and hypertensive heart disease (aOR: 3.1, 95% CI: 1.2–8.4). Kidney dysfunction in HF was associated with hospital stay > 7 days (OR: 2.6, 95% CI: 1–6.8). Conclusion Moderate-to-severe kidney dysfunction was seen in half of the patients hospitalized with HF in our setting, and this was associated with a previous diagnosis of HF and left ventricular hypertrophy. Kidney dysfunction might not be the main driver of poor HF outcomes in this population. In sensitivity analysis, this was associated with anemia, chronic heart failure, heart rate on admission less than 90 bpm, left atrial dilatation, and hypertensive heart disease. Kidney dysfunction was associated with hospital stay > 7 days.

Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy: Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes in RSUP Dr. Mohammad Hoesin Palembang

Background: Impaired maternal and uteroplacental perfusion can occur in pregnancy with cardiac disease leading to maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity due to increased cardiac load and ventricular dysfunction. This research aims to determine maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancies with cardiac disease. Method: This research was a descriptive observational study conducted by a total sampling method and a cross-sectional design. This research used medical records of pregnant women with cardiac disease who gave birth in RSUP Dr. Mohammad Hoesin Palembang in January 2018-December 2020 as study samples. Result: Among 68 pregnancies with cardiac disease, there were 4 cases (0.87%) found in 2018, 37 cases (2.47%) found in 2019, and 27 cases (1.48%) found in 2020. The highest distribution of pregnancies with cardiac disease was found at 64.7% in the range of 20-35 years old age group; 57.4% in the multiparity group; 38.2% in the range of ≥34 – <37 weeks gestational age group; 86.8% in the high school educational level group; 66.2% in the high-risk cardiac functional status group; 54.4% in the peripartum cardiomyopathy group; and 36.8% with preeclampsia/eclampsia as a comorbid. In this study, maternal outcomes found were maternal mortality at 11.8%; cardiac failure at 70.6%; arrhythmia at 1.5%; and stroke at 1.5%, while perinatal outcomes found were prematurity at 60.3%; low birth weight at 64.4%; IUGR at 37.0%; IUFD at 1.4%; stillbirth at 6.8%; neonatal death at 9.6%; and perinatal asphyxia at 42.5%. Conclusion: The prevalence rate of pregnancies with cardiac disease in RSUP Dr. Mohammad Hoesin Palembang was 0.87% in 2018, 2.47% in 2019, and 1.48% in 2020. The most common maternal outcome in this study was cardiac failure, with most in the peripartum cardiomyopathy group, while the most common perinatal outcome was low birth weight, with most in the hypertensive heart disease group.

Basal Septal Hypertrophy as the Early Imaging Biomarker for Adaptive Phase of Remodeling Prior to Heart Failure

Hypertension plays a dominant role in the development of left ventricular (LV) remodeling and heart failure, in addition to being the main risk factor for coronary artery disease. In this review, we focus on the focal geometric and functional tissue aspects of the LV septal base, since basal septal hypertrophy (BSH), as the early imaging biomarker of LV remodeling due to hypertensive heart disease, is detected in cross-sectional clinic studies. In addition, the validation of BSH by animal studies using third generation microimaging and relevant clinical observations are also discussed in the report. Finally, an evaluation of both human and animal quantitative imaging studies and the importance of combined cardiac imaging methods and stress-induction in the separation of adaptive and maladaptive phases of the LV remodeling are pointed out. As a result, BSH, as the early imaging biomarker and quantitative follow-up of functional analysis in hypertension, could possibly contribute to early treatment in a timely fashion in the prevention of hypertensive disease progression to heart failure. A variety of stress stimuli in etiopathogenesis and the difficulty of diagnosing pure hemodynamic overload mediated BSH lead to an absence of the certain prevalence of this particular finding in the population.

Chest Radiography: A Review of 5 Year Findings in Peripheral Facilities in Jos, North -Central Nigeria

X-ray is a noninvasive imaging tool that utilizes a small dose of ionizing radiation to produce the image of the internal structure of the body which helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. Chest x-ray is the most commonly performed diagnostic x-ray examination and carried out for a broad content of indications, including but not limited to cardiopulmonary diseases, follow up of known disease to assess progress and evaluation of symptoms that could relate to abdominopelvic pathology. Materials and Methods: A five (5) year retrospective review of the archive of chest radiographs referred from peripheral facilities in Jos between January, 2015 to December, 2020. The results were expressed as percentages and tests of significance were done using the chi-square. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Findings: The study included 1039 (41.2%) females and 1482 (58.8%) male giving a male to female ratio of 1:1.4 with a mean age of 40.03± 20.38 years. Chest x-ray was normal in 68.9% of the subjects while 783 (31.1%) patients showed various abnormal findings. The common abnormal chest findings were chest infection(20.1%) and hypertensive heart disease (5.3%).Other findings include heart failure (1.5%), hypertension(1.5%),pleural effusion(1.0%) and pulmonary tuberculosis (0.6%).The least findings were lung metastasis and rib fracture following road traffic accidents constituting 0.1% each. The age groups 40-49 years and 50-59 years had the majority of the abnormal chest findings while age groups 10-19 years and 20-29 years had normal findings. This was statistically significant( p<0.005).

Spectrum of cardiovascular diseases at a referral tertiary care hospital in Somalia, Mogadishu: an echocardiographic study

Background To investigate the frequencies and patterns of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including rheumatic and congenital heart diseases, among patients with abnormal hearts assessed by echocardiographic examination. Methods This retrospective, descriptive registry reviewed abnormal echocardiographic findings of 1140 patients aged 0–100 years who were admitted to the cardiology outpatient clinic at a tertiary training institution in Mogadishu. Results Hypertensive heart disease (HHD) (n:454, 39.8%), valvular heart disease (VHD) (n:395, 34.6%), and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) (n:351, 30.8%) were the most frequent comorbidities. Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) were detected in 151 (13.2%) of the patients, with the most common ones including atrial septal defect (ASD) (n:37, 3.2%) and ventricular septal defect (VSD) (n:26, 2.3%). Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) was observed in 84 (7.4%) patients, among whom the most common age range was 16–30 years (40.5%), followed by 31–45 years (31%) and 0–15 years (15.5%). Mitral insufficiency (n:541, 47.5%) was detected as the most frequent VHD, followed by aortic insufficiency (n:437, 38.3%), and tricuspid insufficiency (n:264, 23.2%) and mitral valve stenosis (n:39, 3.4%) was the least common VHD. Conclusion In the present study, we found that HHD was the most common comorbidity, followed by VHD, and HFrEF. Moreover, the most common VHD was mitral insufficiency and the most common CHD was ASD.

Using deep learning method to identify left ventricular hypertrophy on echocardiography

Background Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent prognostic factor for cardiovascular events and it can be detected by echocardiography in the early stage. In this study, we aim to develop a semi-automatic diagnostic network based on deep learning algorithms to detect LVH. Methods We retrospectively collected 1610 transthoracic echocardiograms, included 724 patients [189 hypertensive heart disease (HHD), 218 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and 58 cardiac amyloidosis (CA), along with 259 controls]. The diagnosis of LVH was defined by two experienced clinicians. For the deep learning architecture, we introduced ResNet and U-net++ to complete classification and segmentation tasks respectively. The models were trained and validated independently. Then, we connected the best-performing models to form the final framework and tested its capabilities. Results In terms of individual networks, the view classification model produced AUC = 1.0. The AUC of the LVH detection model was 0.98 (95% CI 0.94–0.99), with corresponding sensitivity and specificity of 94.0% (95% CI 85.3–98.7%) and 91.6% (95% CI 84.6–96.1%) respectively. For etiology identification, the independent model yielded good results with AUC = 0.90 (95% CI 0.82–0.95) for HCM, AUC = 0.94 (95% CI 0.88–0.98) for CA, and AUC = 0.88 (95% CI 0.80–0.93) for HHD. Finally, our final integrated framework automatically classified four conditions (Normal, HCM, CA, and HHD), which achieved an average of AUC 0.91, with an average sensitivity and specificity of 83.7% and 90.0%. Conclusion Deep learning architecture has the ability to detect LVH and even distinguish the latent etiology of LVH.

The diagnostic accuracy of truncated cardiovascular MR protocols for detecting non-ischemic cardiomyopathies

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging is one of the most important diagnostic modalities in the evaluation of cardiomyopathies. However, significant limitations are the complex and time-consuming workflows and the need of contrast agents. The aim of this multi-center retrospective study was to assess workflows and diagnostic value of a short, contrast agent-free cardiac magnetic resonance protocol. 160 patients from Heidelberg, Germany and 119 patients from Montreal, Canada with suspected cardiomyopathy and 20 healthy volunteers have been enrolled. Scans were performed at a 1.5Tesla or 3Tesla scanner in Heidelberg and at a 3Tesla scanner in Montreal. We used single-slice T1 map only. A stepwise analysis of images has been performed. The possible differential diagnosis after each step has been defined. T1-values and color-encoded T1 maps significantly contributed to the differential diagnosis in 54% of the cases (161/299); the final diagnosis has been done without late gadolinium enhancement images in 83% of healthy individuals, in 99% of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, in 93% of amyloidosis patients, in 94% of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and in 85% of patients with hypertensive heart disease, respectively. Comparing the scan time with (48 ± 7 min) vs. without contrast agent (23 ± 5 min), significant time saving could be reached by the short protocol. Subgroup analysis showed the most additional diagnostic value of T1 maps in amyloidosis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or in confirmation of normal findings. In patients with unclear left ventricular hypertrophy, a short, non-contrast protocol can be used for diagnostic decision-making, if the quality of the T1 map is diagnostic, even if only one slice is available.

Quercetin Attenuates Cardiac Hypertrophy by Inhibiting Mitochondrial Dysfunction Through SIRT3/PARP-1 Pathway

Cardiac hypertrophy is an important characteristic in the development of hypertensive heart disease. Mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in the pathology of cardiac hypertrophy. Recent studies have shown that sirtuin 3 (SIRT3)/poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) pathway modulation inhibits cardiac hypertrophy. Quercetin, a natural flavonol agent, has been reported to attenuate cardiac hypertrophy. However, the molecular mechanism is not completely elucidated. In this study, we aimed to explore the mechanism underlying the protective effect of quercetin on cardiac hypertrophy. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were treated with quercetin (20 mg/kg/d) for 8 weeks to evaluate the effects of quercetin on blood pressure and cardiac hypertrophy. Additionally, the mitochondrial protective effect of quercetin was assessed in H9c2 cells treated with Ang II. SHRs displayed aggravated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis, which were attenuated by quercetin treatment. Quercetin also improved cardiac function, reduced mitochondrial superoxide and protected mitochondrial structure in vivo. In vitro, Ang II increased the mRNA level of hypertrophic markers including atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and β-myosin heavy chain (β-MHC), whereas quercetin ameliorated this hypertrophic response. Moreover, quercetin prevented mitochondrial function against Ang II induction. Importantly, mitochondrial protection and PARP-1 inhibition by quercetin were partly abolished after SIRT3 knockdown. Our results suggested that quercetin protected mitochondrial function by modulating SIRT3/PARP-1 pathway, contributing to the inhibition of cardiac hypertrophy.

In-depth phenotyping by cardiovascular magnetic resonance uncovering differences between ethnic groups in hypertensive heart disease

Background Black African/African-Caribbean individuals with hypertension (BH) are at greater risk of heart failure than those of white European ethnicity (WH). The mechanisms underlying this dissimilarity remain poorly understood. Purpose To investigate the influence of ethnicity on left ventricular (LV) remodelling using multi-parametric cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). Methods BH (n=44), WH (n=38) and healthy-volunteers (HV; n=25, 5 of black ethnicity) underwent comprehensive CMR. The exam included: i) Arterial Stiffness/Afterload pulse-wave-velocity (PWV), aortic elastance (Ea) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) by phase-contrast velocity-encoding imaging; ii) Ventricular remodelling/Function LV and right ventricular (RV) volumes, mass, ejection fraction (EF), LV peak-filling rate by short-axis cine images; myocardial strains were measured by feature tracking; iii) Left atrial (LA) remodelling/Function volumes and functions by long-axis cine images; iv) Tissue characterisation: extracellular volume by pre/post-contrast T1-mapping and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) for interstitial and replacement myocardial fibrosis, respectively. Multivariate linear regression models were developed to investigate how LV remodelling associates with ethnicity, arterial afterload, including elastance (Ea) and stiffness [PW], and SVR. Models were adjusted for age, gender, body-mass-index, LV volumes or function and LA volumes. Results Subject characteristics are summarised in the Table. PWV and Ea and SVR were greater in hypertensives, particularly in BH, than HV; this was paralleled by higher LV mass, interventricular septum thickness (IVS), LA volumes but lower LV-EF. These findings were confirmed after adjusting for age. On the Model-1, IVS was associated with Ea (β=0.335, P=0.008) and black ethnicity (β=0.226, P=0.019) but not with SVR or PWV. For each increment of Ea there was a similar increase of IVS in BH and WH (P=0.602 for interaction), however BH had greater IVS than WH at each Ea value (Figure, fully-adjusted Model-1). On Model-2, LV end-diastolic volume was associated with Ea (β=−0.268, P=0.001), SVR (β=−0.319, P=0.019) but not with PWV or ethnicity. However, the inverse relation between LV size and Ea was significantly attenuated in BH (P=0.039 for interaction), (Figure, fully-adjusted Model-2). On model-3, LV-EF was associated with Ea (β=0.223, P=0.009) but not with ethnicity, PWV or SVR. LV-EF reduction for each Ea increment was similar for BH and WH (P=0.597 for interaction). Conclusion BH and WH show a distinctive LV remodelling phenotype. BH had a greater susceptibility to hypertrophy and an attenuated reduction of chamber size in response to arterial afterload. Further research to disentangle the genetic and environmental factors underlying these ethnic group-specific differences is utterly required. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None. Figure 1 Table 1