Coexistence and exercise exacerbation of intraleft ventricular contractile dyssynchrony in hypertensive patients with diastolic heart failure.
BACKGROUND
Patients with heart failure (HF) and a normal left ventricular ejection fraction usually present with diastolic dysfunction (DD). Whether intraleft ventricular contractile dyssynchrony (IVCD) coexists with DD and contributes to the clinical manifestations of HF remains unclear. The study investigated the IVCD at rest and after exercise in hypertensive patients with diastolic HF (DHF).


METHODS
Echocardiography was performed in 60 hypertensive patients with narrow QRS, left ventricular ejection fraction > or = 50%, and no active ischemia. Patients were grouped as having DD (mitral E/A < 1 plus E deceleration time > 200 milliseconds, or mitral annular early diastolic velocity < 8 cm/s; n = 26), DD plus HF symptoms/signs (DHF, n = 13), or as non-DD (n = 21).


RESULTS
At rest, the IVCD index (SD of 12 left ventricular segmental electromechanical delays) was greater in the DHF and DD groups than that in the non-DD group (52.2 +/- 10.7 and 39.1 +/- 23.6 vs 23.1 +/- 19.9 milliseconds; P < .05 for both comparisons). Six-minute treadmill exercise induced exacerbation of dyssynchrony in the DHF group (67.0 +/- 12.9 vs 52.2 +/- 10.7 milliseconds; P < .001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the combination of IVCD index > or = 35 milliseconds at rest and > or = 50 milliseconds after exercise was independently associated with DHF (odds ratio = 20, 95% CI = 2-199, P = .009). Postexercise IVCD index correlated positively with plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (r = 0.37, P = .004).


CONCLUSIONS
Exercise would aggravate intraventricular dyssynchrony in hypertensive patients with DHF, implicating a potential contribution of systolic dyssynchrony to clinical manifestations.
Wang
Yi-Chih
YC
Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hwang
Juey-Jen
JJ
Lai
Ling-Ping
LP
Tsai
Chia-Ti
CT
Lin
Lung-Chun
LC
Katra
Rodolphe
R
Lin
Jiunn-Lee
JL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D013318:Stroke Volume; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology