Abstract 13061: Association of Right Ventricular - Pulmonary Arterial Coupling and Progression of Tricuspid Regurgitation in Patients With Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract

Introduction: Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) severity in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with poor prognosis. Recently, right ventricular-pulmonary arterial (RV-PA) coupling has been shown to be related to clinical outcomes in TR patients. However, data on the relationship of RV-PA coupling to the progression of significant TR is limited. Hypothesis: This study aimed to investigate whether RV-PA coupling affects the progression of significant TR in patients with non-valvular AF. Methods: A total of 300 consecutive AF patients with insignificant TR were included among 371 patients with AF who underwent follow-up echocardiography. Insignificant TR was defined as TR less than a mild degree. We excluded other significant valvular diseases, regional wall motion abnormality, LVEF <50%, the cardiac implantable electronic device, cardiac surgery, and poor echo image for RV analysis. RV-PA coupling was assessed by the ratio of RV global longitudinal strain (GLS) using speckle tracking echocardiography to pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP). Results: During a mean 4.7±2.5 years of follow-up, 31 (10.3%) patients (mean age 67.5±11.7 years, 37.0% female) have progressed to significant TR as more than moderate degree. The patients who progressed to significant TR were older, more likely to be female, and had a higher prevalence of ischemic stroke, higher PASP, larger RV size, lower right atrial (RA) strain, lower RVGLS, and lower RVGLS/PASP than patients without TR progression. RV-PA coupling reflected by RVGLS/PASP was independently related to the progression of TR after adjusting for age, gender, and history of stroke (p<0.001). It remained significant for predicting TR progression even after further adjustment for PASP, RA strain, or RV strain (Figure). Conclusions: RV-PA coupling was associated with the progression of TR in patients with non-valvular AF, which might suggest that it can be a helpful parameter in monitoring this population.