#1920 The impact of kidney function on cardiac diastolic dysfunction trajectories: insights from a longitudinal study
Authors: Porras Cindy P , Bots Michiel L , Verhaar Marianne , Haitjema Saskia , Vernooij Robin Wm 
Published: May 2024

Background and Aims

Although the association between kidney dysfunction and cardiac diastolic dysfunction has been investigated in cross-sectional studies, we currently lack a complete understanding of how the diastolic dysfunction changes over time in individuals with different kidney functions. Exploring the diastolic dysfunction trajectories is crucial as it can provide valuable insights into how kidney function influences cardiac health and which patients are at the highest cardiovascular risk. E/e’ is an echocardiography measure that estimates left ventricular filling pressure and diastolic dysfunction. This study evaluates how kidney function impacts changes in E/e′ over time.

Method

We identified patients from the Utrecht Patient Oriented Database (UPOD) who visited the outpatient clinic of Utrecht University Medical Center between January 2012 and April 2022. Patients who had received at least three echocardiography reports with a minimum of 12 months between them and had recorded serum creatinine measurements in their electronic health records were included. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR [mL/min/1.73 m2]) was calculated using the CKD-EPI 2021 creatinine formula without ethnicity and categorized as follows: eGFR ≥ 90, eGFR ≥ 60 - &lt;90, eGFR &lt; 60. Linear mixed-effect models were utilized to determine the impact of kidney function on changes in E/e′ over time.

Results

A total of 436 patients were included of whom 34.7% were women. The total number of echocardiography examination was 1308. Overall, the median eGFR for all patients was 78.2 mL/min/1.73 m2 [IQR: 61.9, 90.7]. Among them, 26.6%, 51.4%, and 22.0%, had an eGFR ≥ 90, eGFR ≥ 60 - &lt; 90, and eGFR &lt; 60, respectively. Patients with an eGFR &lt; 60 had a higher prevalence of hypertension (64.6%) and cardiovascular disease (84.4%) compared to those with an eGFR ≥ 90, where the prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease was 49.1% and 67.2%, respectively. Additionally, patients with an eGFR &lt; 60 had the lowest mean ejection fraction of 44.9% ± 18.5% and the highest median E/e′ of 12.84 [10.10, 16.16].

The linear mixed model analysis showed that the estimated change in E/e′ per year depended on the level of kidney function. For patients with eGFR ≥ 60 - &lt;90, E/e′ did not significantly change per year (p-value: 0.927). However, for patients with eGFR &lt; 60, a statistically significant (p = 0.014) increase in the E/e′ of 0.45 (0.09, 0.81) was observed per year. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease were found to affect the change in E/e′, with estimates of 0.95 (0.41, 1.49), 1.82 (0.82, 2.89), and 1.25 (0.54, 1.97), respectively.

Conclusion

The trajectory of changes in E/e′ over time was significantly affected by varying levels of kidney function. Patients with impaired kidney function (eGFR &lt; 60) have a higher E/e’ compared to those with normal kidney function (eGFR ≥ 90) and presented a significant increase of E/e’ per year.