P602Septal function and viability determine response to cardiac resynchronization therapy

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has evolved as an important treatment in patients with symptomatic heart failure, reduced left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction and wide QRS. However, as one third of patients do not benefit from the therapy, there is need for better selection criteria. Previous studies have shown an association between recovery of septal function and response to CRT. Purpose To test the hypothesis that septal dysfunction in the absence of scar predicts response to CRT. Methods In 121 patients undergoing CRT implantation according to current European Society of Cardiology guidelines, we performed speckle-tracking echocardiography and estimated LV pressure non-invasively based on a method recently innovated in our lab. Pressure-strain analysis was used to calculate myocardial work. Septal dysfunction with asymmetric LV workload was calculated as the difference between LV lateral wall and septal work. Late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (LGE-CMR) was performed to assess septal scar. CRT response was defined as ≥15% reduction of LV end systolic volume by echocardiography at 6 months follow-up. Results Eighty-eight patients (73%) responded to CRT at 6 months follow-up. Multivariate logistic regression analysis including lateral-to-septal work difference, septal scar, QRS duration and QRS morphology found that only lateral-to-septal work difference and septal scar were significant predictors of CRT response (both p<0.005). Using logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, we found that the combined approach of these two parameters identified CRT responders with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 82%. The area under the curve (AUC) for CRT response prediction was 0.85 (95% CI: 0.76–0.94) (Figure). In comparison, the AUC value for QRS duration was 0.63 (95% CI: 0.52–0.75). Furthermore, for the subgroup of patients with QRS duration 120–150 ms (n=27), the AUC value for lateral-to-septal work difference in combination with septal scar was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.78–1.00). Conclusions A multimodality approach with strain echocardiography and LGE-CMR was able to detect CRT responders with high accuracy, also in the subset of patients with intermediate QRS duration. A dysfunctional but viable septum appears to be an ideal target for CRT.