Noninvasive Left Ventricular Pressure-Strain Loop for Quantitative Assessment of Early Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Background

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) possess a pronounced risk for cardiovascular events. A noninvasive left ventricular pressure-strain loop (LV-PSL) has recently been introduced to detect subtler changes in cardiac function. This study aims to investigate the value of LV-PSL for quantitative assessment of myocardial work (MW) in patients with CKD.

Methods

Seventy-five patients with CKD were enrolled retrospectively (37 patients with CKD Stages 2–3, and 38 patients with CKD Stages 4–5), and 35 healthy volunteers were included as controls. All subjects underwent transthoracic echocardiography. LV-PSL analysis was performed to estimate LV MW and efficiency. Global work index (GWI), global constructive work (GCW), global wasted work (GWW), and global work efficiency (GWE) were obtained by echocardiography, and the differences among the groups were compared.

Results

There was a significant increase in GWW and reduction in GWE in patients with CKD compared to normal controls (p < 0.05). No significant difference in GWI and GCW was observed among the three groups. Multiple linear regression revealed that increased GWW was significantly associated with age, serum creatinine, and systolic pressure, and decreased GWE was associated with age, serum creatinine, and GLS.

Conclusion

LV-PSL can be used for noninvasive quantitative assessment of MW in patients with CKD, providing a new sensitive approach for the clinical assessment of myocardial function.