ABSTRACT
Purpose: An elevated left ventricular (LV) filling pressure is
the main finding in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection
fraction, which is estimated with an algorithm using echocardiographic
parameters recommended by the recent American Society of
Echocardiography (ASE)/European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging
(EACVI) guideline. In this study, we sought to determine the efficacy of
LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) to estimate the elevated LV filling
pressure.
Methods and Results : 73 prospectively selected patients
undergoing left ventricular catheterization (mean age 63.19±9.64, 68.5%
male) participated in this study. Using the algorithm, the LV filling
pressure was estimated with the echo parameters obtained within 24hrs
before the catheterization. The LV GLS was measured using the automated
functional imaging system (GE, Vivid E9 USA). Invasive LV pre-A pressure
corresponding to mean left atrial pressure (LAP) was used as a
reference, and >12 mm Hg was defined as elevated.
The invasive LV filling pressure was elevated in 43 (58.9%) and normal
in 30 patients (41.1%). In 9 (12.3%) patients of 73 are defined as
indeterminate based on the 2016 algorithm. Using the ROC method, -18.1%
of LV GLS estimated the LV filling pressure (AUC=0.79, 73% specificity,
84% sensitivity) with higher sensitivity compared with the algorithm
(AUC=0.76, 77% specificity, 72% sensitivity).
Conclusions : We confirmed that the LV GLS is feasible and
reproducible in estimating LV filling pressure. In addition, LV GLS
highly predicts elevated LAP as E/e’ and TR jet velocity and may be used
as major criteria for the diagnosis of HFpEF
Key Words: Diastolic dysfunction, left ventricular filling
pressure, heart failure, preserved ejection fraction, echocardiography,
left ventricular longitudinal strain