Left atrial strain and derived indexes in diagnosing of heart failure
with preserved ejection fraction
Abstract
Objectives. We sought to evaluate the ability of left atrial strain and
derived index to discriminate patients with HFpEF from individuals with
risk factors of HFpEF. Methods and results. A total of n=389 patients
with risk factors for HFpEF finally was prospectively enrolled into the
study, 51 of them were diagnosed with HFpEF by ESC diagnostic criteria.
55 patients were undergone left ventricular catheterization, 35 of them
with LVEDP elevated. Left atrial strain was measured in all patients.
Compared patients without HFpEF, LASr and LASr/(E/e’) was lower in
HFpEF; E/LASr, LAVi/LASr and LVMI/LASrwas higher in patients with HFpEF.
After adjusted for hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, LVEF
and NT-proBNP, multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that
LASr and derived indexes(E/LASr, LASr/(E/e’), LAVi/LASr and LVMI/LASr)
were still the predictors of HFpEF in their respective models. LASr had
good diagnostic accuracy for HFpEF. Of the left atrial strain derived
parameters, LVMI/LASr was the best discriminatory ability for HFpEF (AUC
0.796, cutoff value 5.2, specificity 82%, sensitivity 73%). LASr,
LASr/(E/e’), LAVi/LASr and LVMI/LASr with higher AUC was superior to
conventional echocardiographic measures of diagnosing HFpEF. LASr and
derived indexes were incorporated into the ESC diagnostic criteria,
LASr-HFA-PEF score system (AUC=0.804) had a higher detection rate of
LVEDP≥16mmHg than the HFA-PEF score system (AUC=0.781). Conclusion. LASr
and derived indexes with good accuracy beyond conventional
echocardiographic parameters discriminate HFpEF from patients with risk
factors of HFpEF. LASr and derived indexes incorporated into the ESC
diagnostic criteria will improve the diagnostic efficiency.