Kuo-Tzu Sung

Age, Gender and Load-Related Influences on Left Ventricular Geometric Remodeling, Systolic Mid-Wall Function, and NT-ProBNP in Asymptomatic Asian Population.

Background Advanced age is associated with left ventricle (LV) remodeling and impaired cardiac function that may increase the risk of heart failure. Even so, studies regarding age-related cardiac remodeling in a large, asymptomatic Asian population remain limited. Materials and Methods We studied 8,410 asymptomatic participants (49.7 ±11.7 y, 38.9% women) in a health evaluation cohort (2004–2012) at a tertiary center in Northern Taiwan. We analyzed age-related alterations for all echocardiography-derived cardiac structures/functions and the associations with circulating N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). We also explored sex-related differences in these measures. Results In our cohort of 8,410 participants, advanced age was associated with greater LV wall thickness, larger LV total mass (+5.08 g/decade), and greater LV mass index (4.41 g/m2/decade), as well as increased serum NT-proBNP level (+18.89 pg/mL/decade). An accompanying reduction of stress-corrected midwall fractional shortening (–0.1%/decade) with aging was apparent in women after multi-variate adjustment (–0.09%/decade, p = 0.001). Furthermore, women demonstrated greater overall increase in LV wall thickness, LV mass index, and NT-proBNP compared to men (p for interaction: <0.001). All blood pressure components, including systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressures were independently associated with greater wall thickness and LV mass index after adjustment for confounders (all p <0.001). The associations between age and cardiac remodeling or mid-wall functions were further confirmed in a subset of study subjects with repeated follow up by GEE model. Conclusions Significant associations of unfavorable LV remodeling and advanced age in our asymptomatic Asian population were observed, along with sex differences. These data may help explain the incidence of some diverse gender-related cardiovascular diseases, especially heart failure.

Solitary accessory and papillary muscle hypertrophy manifested as dynamic mid-wall obstruction and symptomatic heart failure: diagnostic feasibility by multi-modality imaging

BackgroundSolitary papillary muscle (PM) hypertrophy is an unique type of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is characterized by predominant papillary muscle hypertrophy sparing the rest of other left ventricular segments. It has recently drawn our attention about the mechanism of left ventricular mid-cavity obstruction and the influence of pressure gradient in the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT), thus carries clinical importance.Case presentationWe reported a symptomatic, 83-year-old woman who presented with dynamic, high resting left ventricle (LV) mid-wall gradient without obvious septal hypertrophy or systolic anterior motion (SAM). Subsequent real-time (RT) three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated large, hypertrophic accessory papillary muscles squeezing mid-cavity of left ventricle producing dynamic pressure gradient during systole in the absence of left ventricular wall anomalies.ConclusionWe proposed that combined use of echocardiography particularly RT-3DE and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can accurately identify this specific type of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy without remarkable traditional features.

An observational study of the association among interatrial adiposity by computed tomography measure, insulin resistance, and left atrial electromechanical disturbances in heart failure.

AbstractExcessive visceral adiposity, hypothesized to be a key mediator in metabolic derangements, has recently been shown to exert toxic effects on cardiac structure and function. Data regarding the mechanistic link between regional adiposity, left atrial (LA) electromechanical remodeling, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) have been lacking.Various visceral adiposity measures, including pericardial fat (PCF), thoracic periaortic (TAT) fat, regional inter-atrial fat (IAF), and atrioventricular groove fat (AV Groove Fat), were assessed by multidetector computed tomography in 2 study cohorts (an annual health survey cohort and an outpatient cohort). We related such measures to cardiometabolic profiles in health survey cohort and LA electromechanical indices in our outpatient cohort, with Cox proportional hazards performed to examine the temporal trends of heart failure (HF).In our annual health survey cohort (n = 362), all 4 adiposity measures were positively related to unfavorable anthropometrics and systemic inflammation (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) (all P < 0.05). In addition, both greater IAF and AV Groove Fat were positively associated with higher fasting glucose, HbA1c levels, and insulin resistance (all P < 0.05). In the outpatient cohort, the HFpEF group demonstrated the greatest adiposity measures, with greater IAF (≥8.2 mm, hazard ratio: 4.11, 95% confidence interval: 1.50–11.32) associated with reduced LA strain (ß-coef: –0.28), higher LA stiffness (ß-coef: 0.23), and longer P wave duration (ß-coef: 0.23) in multivariate models (all P < 0.05), and further related to higher HF hospitalization during follow-up.We therefore propose a possible pathophysiologic link among greater visceral adiposity, systemic inflammation, cardiometabolic risks, and HFpEF. Regional adiposity, especially IAF, was tightly linked to altered LA electromechanical properties and likely plays a key role in HF prognosis.

THE CLINICAL USEFULNESS AND UTILIZATION OF TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGING, LONGITUDINAL AND CIRCUMFERENTIAL STRAIN AND STRAIN RATE IN THE DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY FOR DIFFERENT PHENOTYPES OF HEART FAILURE

Tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) is a sensitive tool in identifying diastolic dysfunction. Recent progresses in myocardial deformation imaging has enabled early detection of subclinical systolic dysfunction. Head-to-head comparison and optimal cut-off by these measures for different heart failure

The relationship of renal function to segmental vascular stiffness, ankle-brachial index, and peripheral artery disease

The authors consecutively assessed various arterial pulse‐wave velocity (PWV) indices and ankle‐brachial index (ABI) by an automatic device (VP2000, OMRON Health Care Co. Ltd., Kyota, Japan) in outpatients with ≥ 1 cardiovascular risk. PAD was defined as ABI ≤ 0.9. Among 2309 outpatients (mean age 62.4 years), worse renal function was associated with higher brachial‐ankle PWV, heart‐carotid PWV, heart‐femoral PWV (hf‐PWV), and lower ABI (all P < .001). Multivariate regression models showed independent associations between lower eGFR, lower ABI (Coef: 0.42 & 0.41 for right and left), higher hf‐PWV (Coef: −11.4 [95% CI: −15.4, −7.3]) and greater PAD risk (adjusted OR: 0.83 [95% CI: 0.76, 0.91], all P < .05). eGFR set at 77 mL/min/1.73m2 was observed to be useful clinical cutoff (c‐statistics: 0.67) for identifying PAD (P for ΔAUROC: .009; likelihood X2: 93.82 to 137.43, P < .001) when superimposed on clinical risks. This study suggested early renal insufficiency is tightly linked to region‐specific vascular stiffness and PAD.

Evaluation of the Accuracy of ECG Captured by CardioChip through Comparison of Lead I Recording to a Standard 12-Lead ECG Recording Device

Background Remote cardiac rhythm monitoring and recording, using hand-carried electrocardiogram (ECG) device had been widely used in telemedicine. The feasibility and accuracy analysis on the data recorded by a new miniature ECG system-on-chip (SoC) system has not been explored before. Methods This study evaluated the accuracy of the ECG recordings captured by CardioChip - a single-channeled, low-powered, miniature ECG SoC designed for mobile applications; comparing against Philips Pagewriter Trim III - a Food and Drug Administration certified, widely-used standard 12-lead ECG recording device, within Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taiwan. Results Total of 111 participants, age ranging from 39 to 87years old [mean age: 61.2 ± 13.4, 57 male (51.3%)] were enrolled. Two experienced cardiologists rated and scored the ECG morphology to be the same between the two devices, while CardioChip ECG was more sensitive to baseline noise. R-peak amplitudes measured both devices using single lead information (CardioChip ECG vs. Lead 1 in standard 12-lead ECG) showed statistical consistency. Offline analysis of signal correlation coefficients and coherence showed good correlation with both over 0.94 in average (0.94 ± 0.04 and 0.95 ± 0.04, respectively), high agreement between raters (94% agreement) for detecting abnormal cardiac rhythm with excellent R-peak amplitude (r = 0.98, p < 0.001) and PR interval (r = 0.91, p < 0.001) correlations, indicating excellent correlation between ECG recordings derived from two different modalities. Conclusions The results suggested that CardioChip ECG is comparable to medical industry standard ECG. The future implementation of wearable ECG device embedded with miniature ECG system-on-chip (SoC) system is ready for clinical use, which will potentially enhance efficacy on identifying subjects with suspected cardiac arrhythmias.

Current Trends from Diagnosis to Treatment in Heart Failure

近年來全球人口老化，導致心臟衰竭快速成長，變成全世界健康照護上重大的威脅。雖然心臟衰竭已有明確的治療指引，但還是造成相當高比例的心血管併發症及死亡率。最新的歐洲以及美國心臟學會發表新一代心衰竭藥物以及跨團隊治療，可更加改善病人症狀及增加存活率。本文簡要地整理不同類型心臟衰竭的診斷和治療流程，以供臨床醫師治療之參考。