Does Restrictive Mitral Filling Pattern on Doppler Echocardiography Predict Readmission in Patients with Heart Failure?

Abstract

tiary hospital heart failure clinic who had normalized LVEF (>50% on Biplane Simpson) after standard medical management and age-matched controls were assessed with echo. Myocardial deformation characteristics were obtainedvia speckle tracking (GE).An 18-segmentmodels was used to examine longitudinal (LONG) strain (e) and strain rate (SR). Radial (RAD) and circumferential (CIRC) parameters were measured at the papillary muscle level. Results: Of subjects with SHF, 80% had non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy, 90% were on beta-blockers and ACE inhibition. LONG and CIRC e and SR were significantly reduced in Gp A and B consistent with persistent systolic dysfunction despite a normal LVEF (Table 1). Conclusions: SHF patients with recovery of systolic function by conventional echo measures demonstrate abnormal longitudinal and circumferential myocardial deformation. The clinical implication of these findings requires further investigation but suggests medications should not be withdrawn.