Cardio-ankle vascular index relates to left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with heart failure. A retrospective study.
The cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) has been proposed as a new noninvasive marker of arterial stiffness independent of blood pressure. Arterial stiffness is closely related to afterload, and elevated afterload aggravates heart failure. We hypothesized that CAVI is a potential marker of afterload in patients with heart failure. Thirty patients who were admitted because of acute heart failure were identified retrospectively from a review of clinical records. Plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, CAVI, cardiothoracic ratio (CTR), and echocardiographic parameters obtained during acute and chronic phases of heart failure were analyzed. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) increased significantly and CTR, BNP and CAVI decreased significantly after treatment of heart failure. A significant negative correlation was observed between the change in CAVI and change in LVEF in all subjects (r = -0.3272, P < 0.05). To examine the relationship between CAVI and LVEF, we divided the patients into two subgroups (∆CAVI < -0.5; CAVI decrease group, ∆CAVI ≥ -0.5; CAVI non-decrease group). CAVI was significantly improved after heart failure treatment only in the CAVI decrease group. LVEF decreased significantly in both groups, but the P value was smaller in the CAVI decrease group than in the CAVI non-decrease group. The change in LVEF correlated significantly with the change in CAVI in the CAVI decrease group (r = -0.4201, P < 0.05), whereas no significant correlation was found in the CAVI non-decrease group. CAVI correlates inversely with LVEF after heart failure treatment. Our results suggest that CAVI might partially reflect the afterload in patients with heart failure.
Department of Cardiology, Zichuan District Hospital, Zibo, China.
Chengmin
C
Zhang
Masahiro
M
Ohira
Takuo
T
Iizuka
Hiroshi
H
Mikamo
Takahiro
T
Nakagami
Masayo
M
Suzuki
Keiichi
K
Hirano
Mao
M
Takahashi
Kazuhiro
K
Shimizu
Yuko
Y
Sugiyama
Takashi
T
Yamaguchi
Hidetoshi
H
Kawana
Kei
K
Endo
Atsuhito
A
Saiki
Tomokazu
T
Oyama
Takumi
T
Kurosu
Takanobu
T
Tomaru
Hongyu
H
Wang
Hirofumi
H
Noike
Kohji
K
Shirai
D055109:Ankle Brachial Index / Q000379:methods*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology*; D059289:Vascular Stiffness / Q000502:physiology*; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*