Carotid atherosclerosis is associated with left ventricular diastolic function

Is serum Osteopontin a predictor of carotid atherosclerosis severity among prevalent hemodialysis patients?

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients are among the highest population risk for accelerated atherosclerosis. Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional protein that is increased in chronic kidney disease that may play a role in vascular remodelling and intimal proliferation.

AIM

To assess the relation between OPN levels and severity of carotid atherosclerosis among prevalent HD patients.

METHODS

Eighty chronic HD patients underwent serum OPN levels assessment and were further classified into 3 subgroups according to the OPN tertiles' levels; sub-group 1 (lower tertile) subgroup 2 (middle tertile) and sub-group 3 (upper tertile), together with the carotid duplex and Transthoracic Doppler Echocardiography examination.

RESULTS

The mean carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) was 0.89±0.14mm. Out of the studied group, 50 (62.5%) patients had atheromatous plaques and 15 patients (18.8%). had significant stenosis. The 3rd group with the upper OPN tertile (78-270ng/dl) had the highest incidence of atherosclerosis. A significant correlation between the OPN levels and the CIMT (r=0.533, p=0.001). OPN values detect atherosclerosis with diagnostic sensitivity of 70%, specificity of 69%, positive predictive value (PPV) 73%, negative predictive value (NPV) 65% with area under the curve (AUC) 0.804 (95% CI: 0.711-0.897). Serum OPN detect carotid stenosis with sensitivity of 66%, specificity of 81%, PPV 45%, NPV 91% with AUC=0.769 and detect the presence of carotid atheroma with sensitivity 70%, specificity 66.67%, PPV 77.8%, NPV 57.1% and AUC=0.767 (p-value<0.001). Moreover, serum levels of OPN were significantly positively correlated with grade of diastolic dysfunction (r=0.312, p=0.005), E/A ratio (r=0.293, p=0.008) and inversely correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (r=-0.304, p=0.006).

CONCLUSIONS

Serum Osteopontin is of clinical value as a predictor biomarker of the severity of carotid atherosclerosis, presence of atheroma and carotid stenosis with high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity in chronic hemodialysis patients. Increased Osteopontin level is associated with left ventricular diastolic and systolic dysfunction in those patients.

Grading of Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction with Preserved Systolic Function by the 2016 American Society of Echocardiography/European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging Recommendations Contributes to Predicting Cardiovascular Events in Hemodialysis Patients

BACKGROUND

Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) causes heart failure with a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the general population.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationships between the LVDD grades of the 2016 American Society of Echocardiography/European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (ASE/EACVI) recommendations and several arteriosclerotic parameters and major cardiovascular events (MACE) in hemodialysis patients with preserved LVEF.

METHOD

Sixty-three prevalent hemodialysis patients (median age [interquartile range], 69 [64-75] years, 31.7% female) with normal systolic function (LVEF > 50%) were enrolled. LVDD evaluated by echocardiography at baseline was divided into three groups according to ASE/EACVI recommendations (normal diastolic function [ND], n = 24; intermediate, n = 19; diastolic dysfunction [DD], n = 20). All patients underwent analyses of several arteriosclerotic parameters (carotid intima-media thickness [CIMT], plaque score [PS], ankle brachial index [ABI], and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity [baPWV]). The presence or absence of postdialysis orthostatic hypotension was assessed in each dialysis session. MACE during the 1-year follow-up period was obtained from medical records. Kaplan-Meier and Cox's regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship between LVDD grades and MACE.

RESULTS

Postdialysis orthostatic hypotension and PS, but not CIMT, ABI, or baPWV, increased proportionally with LVDD grades. Eleven patients developed MACE, including 2 cardiovascular deaths. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that MACE frequently occurred in the DD grade (p = 0.002 by the log-rank test). Cox's regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders (age, sex, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, and body mass index) revealed that the DD grade was associated with MACE when the ND grade was set as a reference.

CONCLUSIONS

In maintenance hemodialysis patients with normal ventricular systolic function, a classification of LVDD by the 2016 ASE/EACVI recommendations may be a useful tool for predicting cardiovascular events.

Epicardial Fat Thickness in Children with Classic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

OBJECTIVE

Epicardial fat thickness (EFT) is an emerging cardio-metabolic risk factor and has been shown to be related to atherosclerosis. EFT has not been studied in the context of CAH. This study aimed to evaluate EFT in children with CAH and its relation to carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT) and left ventricular (LV) functions.

METHODS

Thirty-six children with classical CAH were compared with 36 healthy controls. All patients had confirmed CAH and were receiving steroid substitution therapy. Patients and controls underwent anthropometric evaluation, measurement of fasting lipids, glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). LV functions and EFT were assessed using conventional echocardiography. Duplex ultrasonography was used to measure CA-IMT.

RESULTS

Compared to controls, patients had greater EFT (p=0.001), CA-IMT (p=0.01), LV mass index (LVMI) (p=0.001) and prolonged mitral deceleration time (DcT) (p=0.01). CAH patients also had significantly worse HOMA-IR (p=0.001) than controls. Abnormalities were worse in uncontrolled CAH on treatment. Multivariate analysis in CAH subjects showed EFT correlated positively with waist circumference odds ratio (OR) [OR=1.9; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07-1.14; p=0.01], 17-hydroxyprogesterone [OR=1.6; 95% CI: 1.33-2.89; p=0.05], testosterone concentration (OR=1.7; 95% CI: 1.55-2.13; p=0.01), LVMI (OR=1.14; 95% Cl: 1.08-1.13; p=0.01), mitral DcT (OR=2.25; 95% CI: 1.15-2.05; p=0.01) and CA-IMT (OR=1.6; 95% CI: 1.15-2.05; p=0.01).

CONCLUSION

EFT is elevated in children with classical CAH, particularly in those with poor control, and is correlated with CA-IMT, LV mass and mitral DcT. Measurement of EFT in CAH children may help to identify those at high risk of developing LV dysfunction and subclinical atherosclerosis.

Association of arteriosclerosis and/or atherosclerosis with hypertensive target organ damage in the community-dwelling elderly Chinese: the Northern Shanghai Study

Objective

Vascular abnormality includes two forms, arteriosclerosis (ARS) and atherosclerosis (ATS), which coexist in patients with cardiovascular (CV) diseases. However, whether their combination may lead to a worsening status in those patients remains unclear. We therefore aimed to investigate the association of ARS and/or ATS with hypertensive target organ damage (TOD).

Methods

From June 2014 to August 2015, a total of 1,599 community-dwelling elderly subjects (aged >65 years) from northern Shanghai were recruited. Vascular measurements, such as carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), ankle–brachial index (ABI) and carotid plaque, were conducted on each participant, and ARS was defined as cf-PWV >12 m/s, while ATS was defined as participants who have carotid plaque or ABI <0.9. Within the framework of comprehensive CV examinations, CV risk factors were assessed, and asymptomatic TOD was evaluated by measuring participants’ left ventricular mass index (LVMI), peak transmitral pulsed Doppler velocity/early diastolic tissue Doppler velocity (E/Ea), urinary albumin–creatinine rate (UACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

Results

Although LVMI, E/Ea and eGFR were significantly different among subjects with or without ARS and/or ATS (P<0.02), in full adjustment model, only E/Ea showed the independent and significant difference (P=0.023). Moreover, E/Ea was significantly different between participants with ARS or ATS and those without ARS or ATS (P=0.045), while there was no significant difference between participants with ARS and ATS and those without ARS or ATS (P=0.28). Similar results were obtained in the multivariate logistic regression of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). With similar adjustment, LVDD was significantly associated with ATS (P=0.01) but not with ARS (P=0.99).

Conclusion

In the community-dwelling elderly Chinese, among hypertensive TOD, LVDD was significantly associated with ATS but not with ARS. The proportion of patients with LVDD was not significantly different despite the presence of both ATS and ARS, when compared to patients with ATS alone.