Natriuretic Peptide Levels and Stages of Left Ventricular Dysfunction in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Elisa Dal Canto, Marielle Scheffer, Kirsten Kortekaas, Annet Driessen-Waaijer, Walter J. Paulus, Loek van Heerebeek*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), natriuretic peptide (NP) levels are frequently lower. In several trials, the outcome differed between patients with low and high NP levels. This suggests that NP could be used to identify distinct stages of left ventricular (LV) remodeling and myocardial tissue composition. This study investigated cardiac remodeling/dysfunction and myocardial tissue characteristics assessed by echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in HFpEF patients in relation to NP levels. Clinical and echocardiographic data of 152 HFpEF patients were derived from outpatient visits. A total of 71 HFpEF patients underwent CMR-derived T1-mapping. Multivariable regression analyses were performed to examine the association of NT-proBNP categories (</> median) and NT-proBNP as continuous variable with echocardiography and CMR-derived T1-mapping. Mean age was 71 ± 9, 93% of patients were women and median NT-proBNP was 195 pg/mL, with 35% of patients below the diagnostic cut-off value (<125 pg/mL). Patients with high NT-proBNP had comparable LV systolic function and LV relaxation but significantly worse LV stiffness and left atrial function compared with patients with low NT-proBNP. Higher NT-proBNP was significantly associated with higher LV stiffness and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) (β = 1.82, 95% CI: 0.19;3.44, p = 0.029). Higher NT-proBNP levels identify HFpEF patients with worse LV stiffness because of more severe myocardial extracellular matrix remodeling, representing an advanced stage of HFpEF.

Original languageEnglish
Article number867
JournalBiomedicines
Volume11
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2023

Keywords

  • cardiac magnetic resonance
  • echocardiography
  • fibrosis
  • heart failure
  • heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
  • natriuretic peptides

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