411 Recompensation induces distinct changes in myocardial work in patients with acutely decompensated heart failure and reduced vs preserved left ventricular ejection fraction
Authors: Morbach C , Sahiti F , Henneges C , Breunig M , Kaspar M , Ertl G , Frantz S , Angermann C E , Stoerk S 
Published: January 2020

Funding Acknowledgements

German Research Foundation (BMBF 01EO1004 and 01EO1504)

OnBehalf

Acute Heart Failure Registry

Background & Aim A new, less load-dependent echocardiographic tool to determine left ventricular (LV) myocardial work (MyW) based on longitudinal strain and blood pressure has recently been introduced and validated against invasive measurements. We investigated the impact of change in N-terminal pro-B-natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP; i.e. surrogate of recompensation) during the hospital phase on changes in MyW (global work efficiency [GWE]; global constructive work [GCW]; and global wasted work [GWW]), in patients admitted for acutely decompensated heart failure (AHF).

Methods The AHF registry is a monocentric prospective follow-up study that comprehensively phenotypes consecutive patients hospitalized for AHF. Echocardiography was performed and NT-proBNP measured on the day of admission and within 72 hours prior to discharge. MyW assessment was performed off-line using EchoPAC (GE, version 202). In order to quantify changes in MyW and NT-proBNP, we used the respective discharge-to-admission ratio (DAR). Local polynomial regression was applied to model these associations in patients with LV ejection fraction (LVEF) &lt;40% vs ≥40%.

Results We analyzed 111 patients: mean age 73 ± 11 yrs; 32% female; 46 patients (41.4%) with LVEF &lt; 40%. The median [Q1, Q3] NT-proBNP level at admission was 5883 pg/ml (2589, 10188). Median length of stay in hospital was 12.0 days (9.0, 16.5). The DAR for NT-proBNP was 0.55 (0.34; 0.80) indicating that the majority of patients experienced a marked lowering of NT-proBNP. The figure demonstrates that the association between DAR of MyW parameters and DAR of NT-proBNP showed distinct profiles depending on admission LVEF. E.g., in panel A, the arrows indicate that a NT-proBNP reduction by 50% was associated with a 45% increment in GCW if admission LVEF was &lt;40%, but with an 8% increment only if LVEF was ≥40%.

Conclusions Our preliminary analysis indicates that a decrease in NT-proBNP may be associated with an improvement in GCW and GWE in patients with reduced LVEF, while these parameters were non-responsive in the other patient group. Although these results require confirmation in a larger cohort, they encourage further research in to MyW as a less load-dependent measure of LV function, shedding new light on echocardiographically manifest alterations of myocardial texture and the timing of healing processes after an acute cardiac event.

Figure

Discharge-to-admission ratio (DAR) of A) global work efficiency (GWE, &gt;1= improvement), B) global constructive work (GCW, &gt;1= improvement), and C) global wasted work (GWW, &lt;1 = improvement) as a function of discharge to admission NT-proBNP in acute heart failure patients with left ventricular ejection fraction ≥ and &lt;40%.

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