New York Heart Association Functional Class III-IV Research Articles

Prevalence, clinical characteristics and echocardiographic parameters of arrhythmias among patients with rheumatic heart disease attending Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute: a prospective cohort study

BackgroundArrhythmia is a known complication of rheumatic heart disease (RHD). It is critical to recognize arrhythmias early on so that prompt preventative actions and vigilant monitoring may be considered while treating these patients.AimThis study aimed at determining the prevalence, clinical characteristics and echocardiographic parameters of arrhythmias among RHD patients attending Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI).MethodologyHospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 390 patients with an echocardiographic diagnosis of RHD aged 18years and above attending JKCI. Demographic and clinical information was documented. Echocardiography, a resting electrocardiography and 24 h ambulatory Holter monitoring electrocardiography were done. Chi square test was used to determine association between variables and those with a p value ≤ 0.2 were entered in a multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the independent factors associated with arrhythmias. P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The receiver operating curve was used to determine the critical point for left atrial size beyond which arrhythmias develop.ResultsA total of 390 patients were included in the analysis. The median age was 39 years interquartile range (IQR 30–52). Females were 257/390 (65.9%). Asymptomatic patients were 208/390 (53.3%). Most patients belonged to New York heart Association (NYHA) functional class I&II 247/390 (62.1%). The most common valve lesion was mitral stenosis 228/390 (58.5%). Arrhythmias were found in 276/390 (70.77%) patients, of which 193/390 (49.5%) patients were from resting electrocardiography (ECG) and 88/197 (44.7%) patients from holter ECG. Independent factors for arrhythmias were, NYHA functional class III&IV (a0R 4.67, 95% CI 1.82-12.00 p = < 0.01) and severe left atrial diameter enlargement (aOR 7.28, 95% CI 3.17–16.70 p = < 0.01). The critical point beyond which arrhythmias develop was found to be left atrium diameter > 48 mm.ConclusionWe found a high prevalence of arrhythmias among patients with RHD. The independent predictors of arrhythmias were left atrium dilatation and NYHA functional class III-IV. We recommend close monitoring for arrhythmias among RHD patients in sinus rhythm with higher NYHA functional class and dilated left atrium.

The Usefulness of the TAPSE/sPAP Ratio for Predicting Survival in Medically Treated Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension.

The ventriculoarterial uncoupling has been linked with unfavorable results as measured noninvasively by tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion divided by systolic pulmonary artery pressure (TAPSE/sPAP). However, its prognostic importance in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is limited. Thus, we determine the effect of the TAPSE/sPAP ratio on outcomes and predictors of all-cause mortality in these patients. We analyzed 56 subjects with medically treated CTEPH. Two-dimensional echocardiographic examination and right heart catheterization findings were recorded from the hospital database. Baseline New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA-FC), 6-min walk distance (6MWD), and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) test results were recorded. The median age was 65.5 years. Over a median follow-up time of 27 months, 29 (51.8%) patients died. BNP values were higher (P = 0.008), 6MWD values were lower (P = 0.004), and NHYA-FC (P = 0.0001) was worse in the non-survivor group. TAPSE (P = 0.0001) and TAPSE/sPAP ratio (P = 0.001) were significantly lower and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) was higher in the non-survivor group (P = 0.03). The best cut-off value for the TAPSE/sPAP ratio for predicting mortality was 0.20 mm/mmHg and the survival rates were significantly lower in the TAPSE/sPAP ratio ≤0.20 group (log-rank P = 0.012). 6MWD (P = 0.005), NHYA-FC III-IV (P = 0.0001), TAPSE/sPAP ratio ≤0.20 (P = 0.017), PVR (P = 0.008), and TAPSE/sPAP ratio ≤0.20 combined with NYHA-FC III-IV (P = 0.0001) were significant determinants and TAPSE/sPAP ratio ≤0.20 combined with NYHA-FC III-IV was the only independent predictor of mortality (P = 0.003). Medically treated CTEPH patients with a TAPSE/sPAP ratio ≤0.20 had lower survival rates. TAPSE/sPAP ratio≤0.20 combined with NYHA-FC III-IV was the independent predictor of poor prognosis.

Psychosocial adaptation to chronic heart failure in patients with coronary heart disease

Aim. To assess the effects of acquired social status, neurotic conditions, type D personality, cognitive functions, quality of life and adherence to treatment on psychosocial adaptation of patients with coronary heart disease (IHD) to chronic heart failure (CHF), depending on the severity of decompensation.&#x0D; Methods. 87 patients with coronary artery disease and chronic heart failure aged between 55 and 72 years were examined. All patients were divided into two groups depending on the functional class of chronic heart failure [New York Heart Association (NYHA) class IIV]. The first group included 41 patients with NYHA functional class III, the second group 46 patients with NYHA functional class IIIIV. For a comprehensive study of the psychosocial adaptation of patients, a set of standardized questionnaires was used: the abridged variant of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (SMOL), a clinical questionnaire for identifying and assessing neurotic condition, the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36), the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), 14-question test Type D Scale-14 (DS14), MoriskyGreen test, the short version of the AUDIT questionnaire (AUDIT-C). We collected data on the patient's social status: gender, education, income level. The results obtained were analyzed.&#x0D; Results. Based on the SMOL personality profiles, patients of the second group were classified as neurotic an increase was noted in three neurotic scales: hypochondria (U=541; p=0.030), hysteria (U=579; p=0.048), and autism/schizoid (U=577.5; p=0.047) compared with patients of the first group. According to the results of the clinical questionnaire for the identification and assessment of neurotic condition, the greatest differences were found between patients of first and second groups on the scale of autonomic disorders (U=571; p=0.039) and neurotic depression (U=576; p=0.046). Comparing the groups according to the MLHFQ score, quality of life in patients of the second group was markedly reduced (U=447.5; p 0.001). According to the SF-36 questionnaire, a decrease in the quality of life was also found in patients of the second group on the scale Physical functioning (U=554; p=0.032) and Physical component of health (U=573.5; p=0.044). The cognitive status in patients of the second group was significantly decreased compared with the first group (U=427; p 0.001). No significant differences were found in adherence to treatment between the two groups (U=757; p=0.666). Also, there were no patients with type D personality on both subscales (U=717.5; p=0.483, U=784; p=0.933) and according to the AUDIT-C scores, there are no significant differences between men (U=681.5; p=0.257) and women (U=728.5; p=0.425) in both groups of patients.&#x0D; Conclusion. Signs of social maladjustment in patients with more severe NYHA functional class of the disease are expressed by significantly more pronounced social isolation (autism), a tendency to avoid communicating with others, isolation on their own problems and hypochondriacal attention to the somatic manifestations of chronic heart failure; probably, the main reason that reduces the level of social adaptation is a high score in neuroticism, which leads to a functional decrease in cognitive abilities and a significant deterioration in quality of life.

Burden, predictors and short-term outcomes of peripartum cardiomyopathy in a black African cohort.

BackgroundPeripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is an idiopathic cardiomyopathy presenting with acute heart failure during the peripartum period. It is common in patients of African ancestry. Currently, there is paucity of data on the burden, predictors and outcomes of PPCM in Uganda. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, predictors and six-month outcomes of PPCM in an adult cohort attending a tertiary specialised cardiology centre in Kampala, Uganda.MethodsThis study consecutively enrolled 236 women presenting with features of acute heart failure in the peripartum period. Clinical evaluation and echocardiography were performed on all the enrolled women. PCCM was defined according to recommendations of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on PPCM. Poor outcome at six months of follow-up was defined as presence of any of the following: death of a mother or her baby, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III-IV or failure to achieve complete recovery of left ventricular function (left ventricular ejection fraction ≤55%).ResultsThe median age, BMI and parity of the study participants was 31.5 (25.5–38.0) years, 28.3 (26.4–29.7) and 3 (2–4) respectively. The prevalence of PPCM was 17.4% (n = 41/236). Multiple pregnancy was the only predictor of PPCM in this study population (OR 4.3 95% CI 1.16–16.05, p = 0.029). Poor outcome at six-months was observed in about 54% of the patients with PPCM (n = 4, 9.8% in NYHA functional class III-IV and n = 22, 53.7% with LVEF <55%). No maternal or foetal mortality was documented.ConclusionPPCM is relatively common in Uganda and is associated with multiple pregnancy. Poor outcomes especially absence of complete recovery of left ventricular function are also common. Large studies to further investigate long-term maternal and foetal outcomes in Uganda are justified.

Association between anemia and outcome in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure syndromes: findings from Beijing Acute Heart Failure Registry (Beijing AHF Registry).

Whether the anemia increases the risk of mortality in patients with acute heart failure (AHF) remains unclear. This study aims to explore the relationship between anemia and outcomes in patients with AHF including subgroup analysis. This study included 3279 patients with hemoglobin available from the Beijing Acute Heart Failure Registry (Beijing AHF Registry) study. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality in 1year, and the secondary endpoint was 1-year all-cause events including all-cause death and readmission. Logistic regression models were applied to describe related variables of anemia in patients with AHF. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models described associations of anemia with clinical outcomes in the overall cohort and subgroups. 45.4% of the patients were found anemic. They were older and had more comorbidities than non-anemic patients. Variables including older age, female, chronic kidney dysfunction (CKD), lower hematocrit, lower albumin, with loop diuretics applied, without beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors /angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEIs/ARBs) and spironolactone applied in the emergency department (ED) were associated with anemia in AHF patients. Anemic patients had higher 1-year mortality (38.4% vs. 27.2%, p < 0.0001) and 1-year events rates (63.2% vs. 56.7%, p < 0.0001). After adjusted for covariates, anemia was associated with the increase of 1-year mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.278; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.114-1.465; p = 0.0005) and 1-year events (HR 1.136; 95% CI 1.025-1.259; p = 0.0154). The severer anemia patients had higher risks both of 1-year mortality and events. In the subgroup analysis, the independent associations of anemia with 1-year mortality were shown in the subgroups including age < 75years, male, body mass index < 25kg/m2 and BMI ≥ 25kg/m2, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class I-II and NYHA functional class III-IV, with and without cardiovascular ischemia, heart rate (HR) < 100bpm and HR ≥ 100bpm, systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 120mmHg and SBP ≥ 120mmHg, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40% and LVEF ≥ 40%, serum creatinine (Scr) < 133umol/l, and with diuretics use, with and without beta-blockers use, without ACEIs/ARBs use in the ED. Anemia is associated with older age, female, CKD, volume overload, malnutrition, with loop diuretics, without beta-blockers, ACEIs/ARBs and spironolactone administration, and higher mortality and readmission in AHF. The risk associations are particular significantly obvious in younger, male, overweight, preserved LVEF, lower Scr, with diuretics and beta-blockers, without ACEIs/ARBs administration subgroups.Clinical trial No. ChiCTR-RIC-17014222.

Outcome of video-assisted thoracoscopic implantation of epicardial left ventricular leads with visual targeting for cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Our goal was to analyse the implantation and outcome of thoracoscopic epicardial leads after a failed endovascular approach or follow-up (FU) complications after endovascular implantation. We reviewed the records of patients with failed endovascular left ventricular (LV) lead placement or complications during FU, who were subsequently referred to cardiac surgeons for treatment with thoracoscopic LV lead implantation. We analysed the reasons for endovascular failure; the indications for the surgical procedures; and the clinical, echocardiographic and device FU results. Between 2010 and 2013, a total of 23 patients were included. Among them, 17 of the patients had no previous cardiothoracic surgery, 13 (76%) had successful video-assisted thoracoscopy (VAT) LV lead implantation, 3 (18%) had a conversion to thoracotomy and 1 (6%) failed. Of the 6 patients with prior cardiothoracic surgery, 2 (33%) had VAT only, 3 (50%) had primary thoracotomies and 1 (17%) had a conversion. Two major complications occurred. The reasons for LV endovascular lead failure were subclavian vein occlusion (n = 2), implant failure (n = 13) and complications during the FU period (n = 8). FU information was available for 20 patients: 17 (85%) had improved symptoms. The median FU period was 33 months. A total of 78% of patients were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III-IV before the operation; 30% were in NYHA functional class III-IV at the last FU examination. The left ventricular ejection fraction increased from 25% before surgery to 31% at the last FU examination. Overall, sensing and pacing threshold values remained stable over time. In 1 patient, lead revision was necessary due to an increase in the pacing threshold. VAT implantation of LV leads had an excellent response rate with an improvement in NYHA functional class and left ventricular ejection fraction. The lead measurements were mainly stable over time.

Pulse pressure and prognosis in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

A high pulse pressure (PP) is associated with adverse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes; however, this relationship may be reversed in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFREF). Patients from the WARCEF trial with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35% were included. PP was divided into tertiles: ≤42, 42-54 and >54mm Hg. Age and ejection fraction adjusted Kaplan-Meier curves were generated to evaluate the relationship between PP and outcomes [mortality, CV mortality, stroke and HF hospitalizations (HFH)]. Cox proportional hazards models were created incorporating PP as a continuous variable. The interaction of PP with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class was examined. Linear and restricted cubic splines were used to study nonlinear association between PP and outcomes. We included 2,299 patients with a mean(±SD) follow-up of 3.5±1.8years. The lowest tertile of PP (≤42mm Hg) was associated with significantly higher CV mortality and HFH. Cox proportional hazards models showed a reduction in CV death and HFH with higher PP, with adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of 0.91 (P=0.02) and 0.93 (P=0.04) per 10mm Hg increase in PP. This relationship was more pronounced in subjects with NYHA functional class III-IV. Spline analysis showed that the association between PP and CV mortality and HFH was only seen at PP values lower than 40mm Hg. In patients with advanced HFREF, a low PP (<40mm Hg) portends a worse prognosis, whereas a high PP (>50mm Hg) predicts a relatively favourable prognosis.

Relation of epicardial fat thickness to the severity of heart failure in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.

The aim of this study was to assess whether epicardial fat thickness (EFT) is associated with the severity of heart failure in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NICMP). The study group was composed of 93 patients with NICMP and38 age- and sex-matched healty individuals as the control group. The EFT was identified during end-systole at the point on the free wall of the right ventricle. Patients with NICMP had significantly lower mean EFT than those in the control group (4.1 ± 0.8 vs. 6.1 ± 1.8 mm, P < 0.001). EFT was thinnest in patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III or IV (3.5 ± 0.5, P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between EFT, left ventricle EF (r = 0.540 P < 0.001), and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) (r = -0.695, P < 0.001) values in patients with NICMP. In addition, when EFT was corrected for BMI, EFT/BMI was lower in patients with NYHA functional class III-IV than patients with NYHA class I-II and control group (0.13 ± 0.01, 0.16 ± 0.02, 0.23 ± 0.04, respectively; P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between EFT/BMI, left ventricle EF (r = 0.489, P < 0.001), and BNP (r = -0.549, P < 0.001) in patients with NICMP. In multivariate regression analysis, EFT (P = 0.009), BNP (P = 0.039), and left atrium volume index (P = 0.039) were independently associated with impaired functional status. Echocardiographic EFT is an inexpensive, simple, and readily available marker that may be used to asses the severity of chronic heart failure in patients with NICMP.

Preoperative brain natriuretic peptide predicts late mortality and functional class but not hospital readmission after cardiac surgery.

N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is an established biomarker of heart failure and has been found to predict mortality and morbidity after cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate whether preoperative NT-proBNP can predict postoperative New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and hospital readmission in addition to morbidity and mortality. Retrospective. University hospital. All patients undergoing aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis and coronary artery bypass grafting from January to December 2008 (n = 390). Preoperative NT-proBNP was recorded prospectively. Five-year mortality was obtained through national registries. Postoperative functional class, morbidity, and hospital readmission were obtained through telephone interviews. Patients were divided into quartiles based on preoperative NT-proBNP; the medians of each quartile were 103 ng/L, 291 ng/L, 825 ng/L and 2,375 ng/L. Increased preoperative NT-proBNP was associated with reduced postoperative functional class. In the first quartile, 7% (7/97) were in NYHA functional class III-IV compared to 26% (25/97) in the fourth quartile (p<0.01). Increased preoperative NT-proBNP was also associated with reduced long-term survival (p<0.01). The covariate adjusted hazard ratio for mortality in the fourth quartile was 2.9 (1.61-5.08; p<0.01) compared to the other quartiles. No association was found between preoperative NT-proBNP and postoperative hospital readmission. Increased preoperative NT-proBNP is associated with reduced long-term survival and functional class but not hospital readmission post-cardiac surgery. Thus, NT-proBNP might have additive value to established risk factors in the preoperative assessment of patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

La calidad de vida en los enfermos con insuficiencia cardiaca: visión desde atención primaria de salud

ObjectiveTo measure and identify the dimensions and determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic heart failure. MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study, in which HRQoL was measured with the short-form (SF)-36 and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) in 544 clinically-stable patients with chronic heart failure managed by 97 primary care physicians. ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 77.6 years (SD: 9.9) and was significantly higher in women. A total of 31.2% were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) grade III-IV and 88.6% had at least one chronic condition. In both questionnaires, physical dimensions scored worse than emotional dimensions. After adjustment was made for multiple regression, seven variables entered into one of the five models and explained between 22% and 36% of the variance. ConclusionsHRQoL in patients with chronic heart failure is impaired across all domains. Being female and being in NYHA functional class III-IV, as well as other factors such as depression, osteoarticular disease, hospital admission, body mass index and age, were associated with poorer self-perceived HRQoL.