95 research outputs found
Prognostic Value of the Persistence or Change in Pericardial Effusion Status on Serial Echocardiograms in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Background: Pericardial effusion in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an indicator of right heart failure and a marker of poor prognosis; its significance on serial transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE) is not clear.
Methods: We examined our database for PAH patients followed at our center (10/99-11/07). Baseline and follow-up TTE (1.0±0.5y) and outcomes were studied (N=200). The presence of pericardial effusion was evaluated at baseline and follow-up. The persistence or change in pericardial effusion status was categorized into four categories. Kaplan Meier methods were used to estimate survival functions of the various categories. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to adjust for other covariates and identify independent predictors.
Results: Over a mean follow-up of 4.6 ± 2.6 y, 53% (n=106) patients died. Pericardial effusion was present in 20% (n=40) at baseline and 22% (n=44) during follow up. Patients with pericardial effusion at baseline or follow-up had significantly higher creatinine, pulmonary vascular resistance, lower cardiac output, and were more likely to be treated with prostanoids. During follow-up, there was significantly increased prostanoids (58% vs. 28%) and combination therapy (8% vs. 2%) use compared to baseline. New or persistence of pericardial effusion was associated with worse outcomes (p<0.001) and an independent predictor of survival after adjusting for age, creatinine, sodium, cardiac output, mean right atrial pressure, New York Heart
Association (NYHA ) functional class, and presence of connective tissue disease as the etiology of PAH (p-value<0.001).
Conclusion: New or persistent pericardial effusion in PAH despite vasoactive therapy predicts worse outcomes; absence or resolution of pericardial effusion with therapy suggests better prognosis. Its public health significance is the ability to identify patients that may benefit from closer follow-up for reassessment and consideration of more aggressive medical therapy or referral for lung transplant to prevent worsening health and/or death
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All-cause and cause-specific mortality in individuals with zero and minimal coronary artery calcium: A long-term, competing risk analysis in the Coronary Artery Calcium Consortium.
Background and aimsThe long-term associations between zero, minimal coronary artery calcium (CAC) and cause-specific mortality are currently unknown, particularly after accounting for competing risks with other causes of death.MethodsWe evaluated 66,363 individuals from the CAC Consortium (mean age 54 years, 33% women), a multi-center, retrospective cohort study of asymptomatic individuals undergoing CAC scoring for clinical risk assessment. Baseline evaluations occurred between 1991 and 2010.ResultsOver a mean of 12 years of follow-up, individuals with CAC = 0 (45% prevalence, mean age 45 years) had stable low rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) death, cardiovascular disease (CVD) death (ranging 0.32 to 0.43 per 1000 person-years), and all-cause death (1.38-1.62 per 1000 person-years). Cancer was the predominant cause of death in this group, yet rates were also very low (0.47-0.79 per 1000 person-years). Compared to CAC = 0, individuals with CAC 1-10 had an increased multivariable-adjusted risk of CVD death only under age 40. Individuals with CAC>10 had multivariable-adjusted increased risks of CHD death, CVD death and all-cause death at all ages, and a higher proportion of CVD deaths.ConclusionsCAC = 0 is a frequent finding among individuals undergoing CAC scanning for risk assessment and is associated with low rates of all-cause death at 12 years of follow-up. Our results support the emerging consensus that CAC = 0 represents a unique population with favorable all-cause prognosis who may be considered for more flexible treatment goals in primary prevention. Detection of any CAC in young adults could be used to trigger aggressive preventive interventions
The association of clinical indication for exercise stress testing with all-cause mortality: the FIT Project
INTRODUCTION: We hypothesized that the indication for stress testing provided by the referring physician would be an independent predictor of all-cause mortality.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied 48,914 patients from The Henry Ford Exercise Testing Project (The FIT Project) without known congestive heart failure who were referred for a clinical treadmill stress test and followed for 11 ±4.7 years. The reason for stress test referral was abstracted from the clinical test order, and should be considered the primary concerning symptom or indication as stated by the ordering clinician. Hierarchical multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was performed, after controlling for potential confounders including demographics, risk factors, and medication use as well as additional adjustment for exercise capacity in the final model.
RESULTS: A total of 67% of the patients were referred for chest pain, 12% for shortness of breath (SOB), 4% for palpitations, 3% for pre-operative evaluation, 6% for abnormal prior testing, and 7% for risk factors only. There were 6,211 total deaths during follow-up. Compared to chest pain, those referred for palpitations (HR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.60-0.86) and risk factors only (HR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.63-0.82) had a lower risk of all-cause mortality, whereas those referred for SOB (HR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.07-1.23) and pre-operative evaluation (HR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.94-2.30) had an increased risk. In subgroup analysis, referral for palpitations was protective only in those without coronary artery disease (CAD) (HR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.62-0.90), while SOB increased mortality risk only in those with established CAD (HR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.10-1.44).
CONCLUSIONS: The indication for stress testing is an independent predictor of mortality, showing an interaction with CAD status. Importantly, SOB may be associated with higher mortality risk than chest pain, particularly in patients with CAD
Erectile Dysfunction as an Independent Predictor of Future Cardiovascular Events: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
Vascular erectile dysfunction (ED) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) share common risk factors including obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, and smoking. ED and CVD also have common underlying pathological mechanisms, including endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and atherosclerosis.1 Despite these close relationships, the evidence documenting ED as an independent predictor of future CVD events is limited
Higher cardiorespiratory fitness predicts long-term survival in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction: the Henry Ford Exercise Testing (FIT) Project
Introduction: Higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with improved exercise capacity and quality of life in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but there are no large studies evaluating the association of HFpEF, CRF, and long-term survival. We therefore aimed to determine the association between CRF and all-cause mortality, in patients with HFpEF.
Material and methods: In the Henry Ford Exercise Testing (FIT) Project, 167 patients had baseline HFpEF, defined as a clinical diagnosis of heart failure with ejection fraction ≥ 50% on echocardiogram. The CRF was estimated from the peak workload (in METs) from a clinician-referred treadmill stress test and categorized as poor (1-4 METs), intermediate (5-6 METs), and moderate-high (≥ 7 METs). Additional analyses assessing the effect of HFpEF and CRF on mortality were also conducted, matching HFpEF patients to non-HFpEF patients using propensity scores.
Results: Mean age was 64 ±13 years, with 55% women, and 46% Black. Over a median follow-up of 9.7 (5.2-18.9) years, there were 103 deaths. In fully adjusted models, moderate-high CRF was associated with 63% lower mortality risk (HR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.18-0.73) compared to the poor-CRF group. In the propensity-matched cohort, HFpEF was associated with a HR of 2.3 (95% CI: 1.7-3.2) for mortality compared to non-HFpEF patients, which was attenuated to 1.8 (95% CI: 1.3-2.5) after adjusting for CRF.
Conclusions: Moderate-high CRF in patients with HFpEF is associated with improved survival, and differences in CRF partly explain the intrinsic risk of HFpEF. Randomized trials of interventions aimed at improving CRF in HFpEF are needed
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Cardiovascular risk stratification among individuals with obesity: The Coronary Artery Calcium Consortium.
OBJECTIVE: The effectiveness of coronary artery calcification (CAC) for risk stratification in obesity, in which imaging is often limited because of a reduced signal to noise ratio, has not been well studied. METHODS: Data from 9334 participants (mean age: 53.3 ± 9.7 years; 67.9% men) with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 from the CAC Consortium, a retrospectively assembled cohort of individuals with no prior cardiovascular diseases (CVD), were used. The predictive value of CAC for all-cause and cause-specific mortality was evaluated using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards and competing-risks regression. RESULTS: Mean BMI was 34.5 (SD 4.4) kg/m2 (22.7% Class II and 10.8% Class III obesity), and 5461 (58.5%) had CAC. Compared with CAC = 0, those with CAC = 1-99, 100-299, and ≥300 Agatston units had higher rates (per 1000 person-years) of all-cause (1.97 vs. 3.5 vs. 5.2 vs. 11.3), CVD (0.4 vs. 1.1 vs. 1.5 vs. 4.2), and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality (0.2 vs. 0.6 vs. 0.6 vs. 2.5), respectively, after mean follow-up of 10.8 ± 3.0 years. After adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, CAC ≥ 300 was associated with significantly higher risk of all-cause (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.49-2.82), CVD (subdistribution HR: 3.48; 95% CI: 1.81-6.70), and CHD mortality (subdistribution HR: 5.44; 95% CI: 2.02-14.66), compared with CAC = 0. When restricting the sample to individuals with BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 , CAC ≥ 300 remained significantly associated with the highest risk. CONCLUSIONS: Among individuals with obesity, including moderate-severe obesity, CAC strongly predicts all-cause, CVD, and CHD mortality and may serve as an effective cardiovascular risk stratification tool to prioritize the allocation of therapies for weight management
Distribution and burden of newly detected coronary artery calcium: Results from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
BACKGROUND: The transition from no coronary artery calcium (CAC) to detectable CAC is important, as even mild CAC is associated with increased cardiovascular events. We sought to characterize the anatomical distribution and burden of newly detectable CAC over 10-years follow-up. METHODS: We evaluated 3112 participants (mean age 58, 64% female) with baseline CAC=0 from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Participants underwent repeat CAC testing at different time intervals (between 2–10 years after baseline) per MESA protocol. Among participants who developed CAC on a follow-up scan, we used logistic regression and marginal probability modeling to describe the coronary distribution and burden of new CAC by age, gender, and race/ethnicity after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors and time-to-detection. RESULTS: A total of 1125 participants developed detectable CAC during follow-up with mean time-to-detection of 6.1 ± 3 years. New CAC was most commonly isolated to one vessel (72% of participants), with the left anterior descending (44% of total) most commonly affected followed by the right coronary (12%), left circumflex (10%) and left main (6%). These patterns were similar across age, gender, and race/ethnicity. In multivariable models, residual predictors of multi-vessel CAC (28% of total) included male gender, African-American or Hispanic race/ethnicity, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. At the first detection of CAC>0, burden was usually low with median Agatston CAC score of 7.1, and <5% with CAC scores >100. CONCLUSION: New onset CAC most commonly involves just one vessel, occurs in the left anterior descending artery, has low CAC burden. New CAC can be detected at an early stage when aggressive preventive strategies may provide benefit
Serum albumin concentration as an independent prognostic indicator in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension
Background
Serum albumin is a strong prognostic indicator for many disease processes, yet limited data exist regarding its prognostic relationship in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Our study aims to assess the relationship of hypoalbuminemia with disease severity and mortality in this population.
Hypothesis
Serum albumin concentrations are a predictor of outcomes in PAH.
Methods
A retrospective review of all patients with World Health Organization group 1 PAH evaluated between March 2001 and August 2008 was performed. Patients were stratified into groups based on serum albumin concentration ≤3.3 g/dL (hypoalbuminemia) vs >3.3 g/dL. Clinical, hemodynamic, and survival comparisons were compared between groups using Student t test and χ2 test, followed by univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression.
Results
A total of 163/273 (59.7%) patients had a documented serum albumin concentration. Hypoalbuminemia was present in 41 (25.2%) patients and serum albumin ≤3.3 g/dL represented the lowest quartile of serum albumin. Patients with hypoalbuminemia had higher rates of renal dysfunction (26.8% vs 9.8%, P =0.0069) and hepatic dysfunction (29.3% vs 6.6%, P <0.001), and lower hemoglobin levels (11.6 vs 13.4 g/dL, P < 0.001). Hemodynamic and functional capacity assessments were comparable between groups. Independent predictors of mortality included low albumin levels (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.485, P = 0.008), high right atrial systolic area (HR: 1.062, P = 0.003), low Fick‐derived cardiac index (HR: 1.465, P = 0.016), and high New York Heart Association functional class (HR: 1.767, P = 0.042). Patients with hypoalbuminemia demonstrated a significantly lower survival rate at latest follow‐up (P = 0.01).
Conclusions
Lower serum albumin concentrations in patients with PAH are associated with higher mortality and can serve as a marker of disease severity in this patient population
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