Acute pulmonary edema in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction is associated with concentric left ventricular geometry

AbstractAlthough acute pulmonary edema (APE) is common in patients with heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (EF), its pathogenesis in patients with HF with reduced EF (HFrEF) is not completely understood. The purpose of our study was to explore the contributions of left ventricular (LV) geometry to understand the difference between HFrEF patients with or without APE. We studied 122 consecutive acute decompensated HF patients with HFrEF ( ≤40%). APE was defined as acute-onset dyspnea and radiographic alveolar edema requiring immediate airway intervention. LV geometry was determined from a combination of the LV mass index and relative wall thickness (RWT). Long-term unfavorable outcome events were tracked during a follow-up of a med ian of 21 months (interquartile range, 10–28 months), during which APE was observed in 29 patients (24%). Compared to those without APE, hospitalized patients with APE had a higher systolic blood pressure, RWT, and LVEF and lower end-diastolic dimension. Among echocardiographic variables, a multi variate logistic regression analysis identified RWT as the only independent determinant of APE (hazard ratio: 2.46, p <  0.001). Those with concentric geometry (n = 25; RWT >  0.42) had a higher incidence of APE relative to those with non-concentric geometry. Furthermore, among patients with APE, mortality was significantly higher among those with concentric geometry (log-rank, p = 0.008). Compared with non-concent...
Source: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - Category: Radiology Source Type: research