Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction after left-sided valve surgery: prevalent and relevant

AIMS

To investigate the epidemiological and prognostic relationship between heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and left-sided valve surgery using all-cause mortality as a primary endpoint.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We studied a total of 973 patients, of whom 673 had undergone left-sided valve surgery (time from surgery to enrolment 50 ± 30 months after valve surgery) and 300 patients with HFpEF without prior surgery served as control group. Among patients after surgery, 67.4% fulfilled all criteria of HFpEF according to current guideline recommendations, 20.6% had no heart failure (HF), and 12.0% had HF with mid-range or reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF/HFrEF). During 83 ± 39 months of follow-up, a total of 335 (34.4%) patients died. Compared to surgical patients with no subsequent HF, patients with HFpEF and HFmrEF/HFrEF after surgery showed significantly higher all-cause mortality rates [hazard ratio (HR) 1.80, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.57, P = 0.001; and HR 1.86, 95% CI 1.16-2.98, P = 0.010, respectively]. This increased mortality rate was similar to the control HFpEF group without surgery (HR 2.05, 95% CI 1.38-3.02, P < 0.001). Results remained consistent after adjustment for clinical and imaging risk factors and when using the established HFA-PEFF risk score for HFpEF diagnosis. Notably, only 12.5% of HFpEF patients after surgery were diagnosed with HF despite regular follow-up visits by board-certified cardiologists. In contrast, 92.1% of HFmrEF/HFrEF patients after surgery were diagnosed correctly.

CONCLUSIONS

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction following left-sided valve surgery is highly prevalent, associated with unfavourable outcomes, but rarely recognized.

Effect of Tricuspid Valve Repair in Patients with Moderate Tricuspid Regurgitation undergoing Left-Sided Valve Surgery

BACKGROUND

The benefits of tricuspid valve (TV) repair in patients with moderate tricuspid regurgitation (TR) during left-sided valve surgery are under debate. We investigated independent predictors for reduction in TR severity following left-sided valve surgery in patients with moderate TR.

METHODS

In this study, we included 106 patients (male: 33%) with a mean age of 4.23 ± 12.61 years who had moderate TR and underwent mitral or aortic valve surgery between March 2012 and November 2016. Concomitant tricuspid annuloplasty was done for one group of patients based on surgeon's decision. Transthoracic echocardiography was done before and at a median followup of 4.71 months for all patients. The patients were divided into improved and unimproved TR groups, with the term "improved" signifying a reduction of at least one grade in TR severity.

RESULTS

Tricuspid annuloplasty was performed on 65 (61.3%) patients. TR improvement was observed in 87.7% of patients in the TV repair group and 56.1% of patients in the no-TV repair group, indicating a significant difference (P < 0.001). Tricuspid annulus diameter was not significantly different between the two groups (32.41 ± 4.68 mm in no-TV repair group and 33.87 ± 4.34 mm in TV repair group, P = 0.128). At follow-up with echocardiography, 80 (75.5%) patients were placed in the improved group and the majority of patients (71.3% vs. 30.8%; P < 0.001) underwent tricuspid repair in the improved group. TV annuloplasty was correlated with reduced TR severity following left-sided valve surgery (odds ratio [OR]: 5.19, 95% CI: 1.70-15.85, P < 0.001). TR changed from moderate to severe in 17 (17.1%) patients with no concomitant tricuspid repair, while only one patient (1.5%) with tricuspid repair showed an increased TR severity.

CONCLUSION

Tricuspid annuloplasty may be useful in patients who have moderate TR undergoing left-sided valve surgery regardless of the tricuspid annulus diameter, and it can play an effective role in the improvement of TR at mid-term follow-up.