Haemodynamic forces predicting remodelling and outcome in patients with heart failure treated with sacubitril/valsartan

Iacopo Fabiani; Nicola Riccardo Pugliese; Gianni Pedrizzetti; Giovanni Tonti; Vincenzo Castiglione; Vladislav Chubuchny; Claudia Taddei; Alessia Gimelli; Lavinia Del Punta; Alessio Balletti; Annamaria Del Franco; Stefano Masi; Carlo Mario Lombardi; Matteo Cameli; Michele Emdin; Alberto Giannoni

doi:10.1002/ehf2.14346

Haemodynamic forces predicting remodelling and outcome in patients with heart failure treated with sacubitril/valsartan

ESC Heart Fail. 2023 Oct;10(5):2927-2938. doi: 10.1002/ehf2.14346. Epub 2023 Jul 17.

Authors

Iacopo Fabiani¹, Nicola Riccardo Pugliese², Gianni Pedrizzetti^{3

4}, Giovanni Tonti⁵, Vincenzo Castiglione^{1

6}, Vladislav Chubuchny¹, Claudia Taddei¹, Alessia Gimelli¹, Lavinia Del Punta², Alessio Balletti², Annamaria Del Franco¹, Stefano Masi², Carlo Mario Lombardi⁷, Matteo Cameli⁸, Michele Emdin^{1

6}, Alberto Giannoni^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio, Pisa, Italy.
² Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
³ Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.
⁵ Division of Cardiology, 'G. D'Annunzio' University, Chieti, Italy.
⁶ 'Health Science' Interdisciplinary Research Center, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
⁷ Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences, and Public Health, University of Brescia Civil Hospital, Brescia, Italy.
⁸ Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Division of Cardiology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.

Abstract

Aims: A novel tool for the evaluation of left ventricular (LV) systo-diastolic function through echo-derived haemodynamic forces (HDFs) has been recently proposed. The present study aimed to assess the predictive value of HDFs on (i) 6 month treatment response to sacubitril/valsartan in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patients and (ii) cardiovascular events.

Methods and results: Eighty-nine consecutive HFrEF patients [70% males, 65 ± 9 years, LV ejection fraction (LVEF) 27 ± 7%] initiating sacubitril/valsartan underwent clinical, laboratory, ultrasound and cardiopulmonary exercise testing evaluations. Patients experiencing no adverse events and showing ≥50% reduction in plasma N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and/or ≥10% LVEF increase over 6 months were considered responders. Patients were followed up for the composite endpoint of HF-related hospitalisation, atrial fibrillation and cardiovascular death. Forty-five (51%) patients were responders. Among baseline variables, only HDF-derived whole cardiac cycle LV strength (wLVS) was higher in responders (4.4 ± 1.3 vs. 3.6 ± 1.2; p = 0.01). wLVS was also the only independent predictor of sacubitril/valsartan response at multivariable logistic regression analysis [odds ratio 1.36; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10-1.67], with good accuracy at receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis [optimal cutpoint: ≥3.7%; area under the curve (AUC) = 0.736]. During a 33 month (23-41) median follow-up, a wLVS increase after 6 months (ΔwLVS) showed a high discrimination ability at time-dependent ROC analysis (optimal cut-off: ≥0.5%; AUC = 0.811), stratified prognosis (log-rank p < 0.0001) and remained an independent predictor for the composite endpoint (hazard ratio 0.76; 95% CI 0.61-0.95; p < 0.01), after adjusting for clinical and instrumental variables.

Conclusions: HDF analysis predicts sacubitril/valsartan response and might optimise decision-making in HFrEF patients.

Keywords: Haemodynamic forces; Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction; Prognosis; Sacubitril/valsartan.