Usefulness of Right Ventricular to Pulmonary Circulation Coupling as an Indicator of Risk for Recurrent Admissions in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

Abstract

In recent years, the study of right ventricular (RV) to pulmonary circulation (PC) coupling in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has been a matter of special interest. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) to pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) ratio has emerged as a reliable noninvasive index of RV to PC coupling. Thus, we hypothesized that TAPSE/PASP would be a predictor of readmission burden in HFpEF. One thousand one hundred and twenty seven consecutive HFpEF patients discharged for acute HF were included. In 367 patients (32.6%), PASP could not be accurately measured by echocardiography, leaving the final sample size to be 760 patients. Negative binomial regression method was used to evaluate the association between TAPSE/PASP ratio and recurrent admissions. Mean age of the cohort was 75.6 ± 9.7 years and 68.3% were women. At a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 2.0 (2.9) years, 352 (46.3%) patients died and 1,214 readmissions were registered in 482 patients (63.4%), being 506 of them HF-related. There was a stepwise increase in the rates of all-cause and HF readmissions by decreasing TAPSE/PASP ratio. After multivariable adjustment, TAPSE/PASP <0.36 was associated with a higher risk of HF-related recurrent admissions (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 2.24; p = 0.040), whereas patients in the lowest quintile (TAPSE/PASP <0.28) exhibited the highest risk of both all-cause and HF-related recurrent admissions (IRR 1.40, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.87, p = 0.025; and IRR 1.85, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.80, p = 0.004, respectively). In conclusion, TAPSE/PASP ratio, as a noninvasive index of RV-PC coupling, emerges as a strong predictor of recurrent hospitalizations in HFpEF.