Exhaled breath mass spectrometry in heart failure diagnostics

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) affects almost all organs and systems, including general and local pulmonary metabolism, thus effecting on volatile organic compounds concentration in expired air. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the value of expired air analysis (proton mass spectrometry, PTR-MS) for the diagnosis of HF. The study population included 19 patients with stable chronic New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification class 2-3 and 16 sex and age matched controls without signs and symptoms of HF. Expired air analysis could provide facilities of early diagnosis and monitoring in HF patients. Most patients had ischemic aetiology of HF, and 31% of them had NYHA class 2 and 69% NYHA class 3 symptoms. Fasted expired air collected by special Tedlar bags was analysed by Compact PTR-MS. The composition of expired air was analysed by deviation of the content of certain substances against their concentration in neutral air. Analysis of samples from patients reveals 24 substances that differ in concentration from the neutral air. Six of them differ significantly in patients with and without HF. Namely, the concentrations of acetone, formaldehyde, propylene, acetic acid, xylene and benzoates were significantly elevated in HF patients (p > 0.05).