Prognostic value of right ventricular strain and peak oxygen consumption in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

• Published in: The international journal of cardiovascular imaging Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 501 - 509
• Main Authors: Menegazzo, Willian Roberto, Santos, Angela Barreto Santiago, Foppa, Murilo, Scolari, Fernando Luis, Barros, Fernando Colares, Stein, Ricardo, da Silveira, Anderson Donelli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-03-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Cardiac Imaging; Cardiology; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Congestive heart failure; Death; Echocardiography; Ejection fraction; Female; Heart Failure; Heart transplantation; Humans; Imaging; Impairment; Male; Medical prognosis; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Mortality; OriginalPaper; Oxygen Consumption; Parameters; Predictive Value of Tests; Prognosis; Radiology; Retrospective Studies; Stroke Volume; Survival; Ventricle; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left; Heart failure; Longitudinal strain; Echocardiography; Cardiopulmonary exercise testing; Right ventricle
• ISSN: 1875-8312; 1569-5794; 1875-8312; 1573-0743
• DOI: 10.1007/s10554-022-02747-0

Our purpose is to evaluate the combined predictive value of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) strain in predicting mortality and heart transplant (HTx) in a series of outpatients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). A retrospective cohort study of 66 patients with HFrEF (median age, 57 years; 51% women) who underwent CPET and echocardiography (up to 90 days apart) to assess prognosis. The primary outcome was a composite of death and need for HTx. At a median follow-up of 27 [20–39] months, 19 patients (29%) experienced the primary outcome. In unadjusted analysis, most echocardiographic and CPET parameters were associated with the primary outcome, including percentage of predicted peak oxygen consumption (ppVO
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), VE/VCO
2
slope, LV ejection fraction, and LV and RV longitudinal strain. After adjusting for other clinical, echocardiographic and CPET variables, RV free wall longitudinal strain and ppVO
2
remained significantly associated with the primary outcome. Kaplan–Meier survival curves for death and HTx, based on the best cutoff values, showed lower survival rates in patients with impairment in both ppVO
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and RV FW-LS than in those with one or neither parameter impaired (p < 0.001). RV dysfunction and low cardiorespiratory fitness were independent markers of death and need for HTx. Impairment of both ppVO
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and RV FW-LS had a strong additive impact on prognostic assessment in this cohort of patients with HFrEF.