BACKGROUND

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is prevalent in decompensated heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). We investigated the effect of a return to a compensated state on pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) and functional mitral regurgitation (FMR).

METHODS AND RESULTS

Two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography was prospectively performed before initiation of standard therapy and 48 hours later in 37 patients hospitalized for HFpEF-related dyspnea and in 26 patients hospitalized for non-HFpEF-related dyspnea. Left atrial volume index, and E/e' ratio, and PASP were significantly greater and E-wave deceleration time significantly shorter in HFpEF than in non-HFpEF patients. Thirty-two of the 37 HFpEF had FMR on admission whereas none of the non-HFpEF patients had FMR. After 48 hours of therapy, the reduction in PASP was significantly greater in the 26 HFpEF patients who improved than in the 11 HFpEF patients who did not (-24 vs -9 mm Hg, respectively; P < .0001), whereas PASP remained unchanged in non-HFpEF patients. The decrease in PASP correlated in HFpEF patients with reductions in blood pressure, heart rate, left ventricular end-diastolic volume, inferior vena cava diameter, E/A ratio, E/e' ratio, mitral effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA), and E-wave deceleration time. The correlation between PASP and mitral EROA was the only one that remained significant by multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Noninvasive monitoring of PASP and FMR during an episode of HFpEF decompensation reveals that the return to a compensated state is associated with a significant reduction in PASP and FMR.