Ishizaka S; Iwano H; Tsujinaga S;Murayama M; Tsuneta S; Aoyagi H; Tamaki Y; Motoi K;Chiba Y; Tanemura A; Nakabachi M; Yokoyama S; Nishino H; Okada K; Meyers BA;Vlachos PP; Sato T; Kamiya K; Watanabe M; Kaga S; Nagai T; Oyama-Manabe N; Anzai T;
Journal of cardiology [J Cardiol] 2022 Sep 16.
Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 16.
Background: Determinants of exercise intolerance in a phenotype of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) with normal left ventricular (LV) structure have not been fully elucidated.
Methods: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing and exercise-stress echocardiography were performed in 44 HFpEF patients without LV hypertrophy. Exercise capacity was determined by peak oxygen consumption (peak VO 2 ). Doppler-derived cardiac output (CO), transmitral E velocity, systolic (LV-s’) and early diastolic mitral annular velocities (e’), systolic pulmonary artery (PA) pressure (SPAP), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), and peak systolic right ventricular (RV) free wall velocity (RV-s’) were measured at rest and exercise. E/e’ and TAPSE/SPAP were used as an LV filling pressure parameter and RV-PA coupling, respectively.
Results: During exercise, CO, LV-s’, RV-s’, e’, and SPAP were significantly increased (p < 0.05 for all), whereas E/e’ remained unchanged and TAPSE/SPAP was significantly reduced (p < 0.001). SPAP was higher and TAPSE/SPAP was lower at peak exercise in patients showing lower-half peak VO 2 . In univariable analyses, LV-s’ (R = 0.35, p = 0.022), SPAP (R = -0.40, p = 0.008), RV-s’ (R = 0.47, p = 0.002), and TAPSE/SPAP (R = 0.42, p = 0.005) were significantly correlated with peak VO 2 . In multivariable analyses, not only SPAP, but also TAPSE/SPAP independently determined peak VO 2 even after the adjustment for clinically relevant parameters.
Conclusions: In HFpEF patients without LV hypertrophy, altered RV-PA coupling by exercise could be associated with exercise intolerance, which might not be caused by elevated LV filling pressure.