Prediction of coronary artery stenosis using strain imaging diastolic index at rest in patients with preserved ejection fraction

Improvement of long-term clinical outcomes by successful PCI in the very elderly women with ACS

BACKGROUND

Whether very elderly women with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) should receive aggressive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is still controversial. We assessed the effectiveness and long-term clinical outcomes of successful PCI in this population and identified prognostic factors which might contribute to the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) in the very elderly female PCI cohort.

METHODS

Female ACS patients aged ≥ 80 years were consecutively enrolled (n = 729) into the study. All the patients were divided into female PCI group (n = 232) and medical group (n = 497). MACCE was followed up, including non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, heart failure requiring hospitalization (HFRH), cardiovascular (CV) death, and the composite of them. After propensity score matching (1:1), the incidences of MACCE were compared between the two groups. Clinical and coronary artery lesion characteristics were compared between the female PCI patients with (n = 56) and without MACCE (n = 176). Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors which independently associated with MACCE in the female PCI patients. MACCE of male PCI patients, who aged ≥ 80 years and hospitalized in the same period (n = 264), was also compared with that of the female PCI patients.

RESULTS

A total of 32% very elderly female ACS patients received PCI in the present study. (1) Compared to female medical group, PCI procedure significantly alleviated the risks of MACCE: non-fatal MI (6.2% vs. 20.2%, P < 0.001), HFRH (10.9% vs. 22.5%, P = 0.012), CV death (12.4% vs. 28.7%, P < 0.001) and the composite MACCE (24.0% vs. 44.2%, P < 0.001) during the median follow-up period of 36 months. (2) Between very elderly female and male PCI patients, there were no significant differences in occurrence of MACCE (P = 0.232) and CV death (P = 0.951). (3) Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (HR 1.944, 95% CI 1.11-3.403, P = 0.02) and elevated log- N-Terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) (HR 1.689, 95% CI 1.029-2.773, P = 0.038) were independently associated with the incidence of MACCE in the female PCI patients.

CONCLUSIONS

PCI procedure significantly attenuated the risk of MACCE and improved the long-term clinical outcomes in very elderly female ACS patients. Aggressive PCI strategy may be reasonable in this population.

Assessment of brachial artery mechanics using velocity vector imaging does not predict arteriovenous fistula failure; a feasibility study

Strain measurements by US have been suggested as a method of assessing arterial elasticity prior to arterio venous fistula creation. This pilot study sought to develop an imaging protocol to measure strain in the brachial artery via velocity vector imaging (VVI) and determine if differences in strain could be observed between a healthy group and a group with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and if VVI measurements were associated with arterio-venous fistula malfunction. 40 healthy volunteers and 33 patients with ESRD were included in this study. All participants underwent US assessment of brachial artery strain via VVI. Peak velocity, strain, strain-rate and velocity were assessed. Patients with and without AVF failure at 3-months were assessed for differences in VVI measurement. Mean VVI measurements between the patient and volunteer groups were similar, and no significant differences were observed. Measurements were reproducible. No significant differences were observed in patients with or without AVF dysfunction. The results from this pilot study suggest VVI measurements of brachial artery mechanics are feasible and that VVI measurements may be used to assess age related changes of the brachial artery.

Potential usefulness of diastolic parameters measured by strain imaging echocardiography in the early prediction of chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity

Over the past decades, chemotherapy has significantly increased the overall prognosis and survival of several patients diagnosed with cancer. However, the usefulness of some chemotherapeutic agents has been hindered by a collateral dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. To date, although extensive efforts have been directed to the early detection of subclinical toxicity in patients treated with these drugs, it remains unclear which approach would be best in order to prevent chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity (CIC). For many years, conventional echocardiography has been among preferred noninvasive imaging modality to monitor left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients undergoing chemotherapy. Unfortunately, a significant reduction in LVEF is not recognized early on after chemotherapy-induced myocardial damage. Moreover, delayed recognition has been associated with poor recovery potential and poor clinical outcome. Thus, there is a critical need to identify early, reliable parameters of subclinical injury. Myocardial deformation imaging, also known as strain imaging echocardiography (SIE), is becoming readily available for advanced routine echocardiography and has shown value in detecting subclinical ventricular dysfunction in several clinical scenarios. Abnormalities in systolic deformation parameters have been identified as early manifestation but left ventricular diastolic properties remain less well defined. We hypothesize that onset as well as progression of cardiotoxicity not only should disturb deformation curves of myocardial contraction, but also relaxation. Hence, SIE may detect subtle myocardial changes in diastole that could be of potential benefit in the early prediction of CIC. If this premise is proven correct, the use of a standardized advanced echocardiographic imaging protocol using both, systolic and diastolic strain imaging, will prove to be a powerful noninvasive tool as baseline and follow-up of these patients. Furthermore, it will foster the developing of more effective screening strategies in at risk cancer survivor populations, or identify the best time to start cardioprotective therapy to prevent CIC. Also, this experience might be extrapolated to other non-oncologic patient population in need of a surveillance tool to early recognize cardiac injury secondary to the use of cardiotoxic medications.

Rationale and design of J-ACCESS 4: prognostic impact of reducing myocardial ischemia identified using ECG-gated myocardial perfusion SPECT in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND

The findings of our recent study entitled, "Japanese Assessment of Cardiac Events and Survival Study by Quantitative Gated SPECT (J-ACCESS)" showed that myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (MPS) can detect coronary artery disease (CAD) and help to predict future cardiac events in patients with suspected or extant CAD. However, the extent of the benefit conferred by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) as an initial management strategy compared with optimal medical therapy remains controversial. Little evidence supports the notion that myocardial ischemia identified using MPS is an alternative target of coronary revascularization to reduce the likelihood of developing cardiac events.

METHODS

The multicenter, prospective cohort J-ACCESS 4 study aims to clarify the prognostic impact of reducing myocardial ischemia determined using electrocardiogram-gated MPS in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease. We started to register patients in J-ACCESS 4 at 74 facilities during June 2012 and will continue to do so until December 2013 or until the cohort comprises 500 patients who will participate in the study from one month before, until two months after stress/rest MPS assessment. Imaging data, the background of the patients including coronary risk factors and treatment before MPS assessments will be analyzed. The patients will undergo coronary revascularization within two months after MPS and/or receive appropriate medical therapy. The second stress/rest MPS will be performed from 4 to 10 months after coronary revascularization or registration. They will be followed up for over one year after the second MPS assessment. The primary endpoints will be cardiac death, sudden death of unknown cause, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and hospitalization for heart failure. The secondary endpoints will comprise death due to all causes including non-cardiac death and any cardiovascular events. This study will be completed in 2015. Here, we describe the design of the J-ACCESS 4 study.

Left atrial and right atrial deformation in patients with coronary artery disease: a velocity vector imaging-based study

Background

Impaired left ventricular (LV) function has been shown by strain rate (SR) imaging in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Our aim was to investigate global and regional, systolic and diastolic left atrial (LA) and right atrial (RA) longitudinal deformation in CAD using velocity vector imaging.

Methods

Echocardiographic and velocity vector imaging studies were performed in 20 patients with mild CAD, 40 patients with severe CAD and 25 controls. Maximal atrial volume, peak atrial longitudinal strain (ε_s) and SR during LV systole (SRs), SR during early LV filling (SRe) and late LV filling (SRa) were measured. Longitudinal strain during atrial contraction (ε_a) was obtained at the onset of P-wave on electrocardiography, and ε_a/ε_s was calculated.

Results

Longitudinal peak ε_s and SRs of LA showed decreased trend among CAD patients. The global and lateral LA SRe were prominently lower, while RA ε_a, SRa and ε_a/ε_s were prominently higher in 2 CAD groups than control group (P value <0.05). As compared with controls and patients with other single-vessel disease, LA SRa and ε_a/ε_s ratio were significantly increased among patients with exclusively left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) stenosis (SRa 1.14±0.38 s⁻¹, 1.10±0.41 s⁻¹, 1.45±0.46 s⁻¹, P value<0.05; ε_a/ε_s 0.44±0.11, 0.44±0.20, 0.57±0.12, P value<0.01).

Conclusions

Apparently decreased SRe of LA and increased ε_a, SRa and ε_a/ε_s of RA were found in CAD patients with preserved LVEF and E/E' in gray zone. SRa and ε_a/ε_s of LA were found to significantly increase in those with LAD stenosis.