• Betul Cengiz Elçioğlu, Sadettin Kamat, Selen Yurdakul, Şükrü Taylan Şahin, Altemur Sarper, Pınar Yıldız, and Saide Aytekin.
• Department of Cardiology, Istanbul Bilim University, Istanbul, Turkey.
• Intern Med J. 2022 Oct 1; 52 (10): 179117981791-1798.

BackgroundPatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can develop left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction and geometric changes due to several reasons.AimTo investigate subclinical LV systolic dysfunction and structural features in patients with COPD, and its correlation with the severity of airway obstruction, identified by GOLD classification.MethodsWe studied 52 patients with COPD and 29 age and sex-matched controls, without any cardiac disease. In addition to conventional echocardiographic evaluation speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-based strain imaging were performed to analyse sub-clinical LV systolic dysfunction. Also LV volumes were measured by using three-dimensional real time echocardiography (3DRTE). All patients underwent spirometry.ResultsConventional echocardiographic parameters (LV wall thickness and diameters, LV EF) and LV volume measurements were similar between the groups. LV global longitudinal peak systolic strain (-14.76 ± 2.69% to -20.27 ± 1.41%, P < 0.001) and strain rate (0.75 ± 0.25 1/s to 1.31 ± 0.41 1/s, P < 0.001) were significantly impaired in patients, compared to controls demonstrating sub-clinical ventricular systolic dysfunction. Significant positive correlation was obtained between LV strain/strain rate and spirometry parameters (FEV1, FEV%, FEV1/FVC, PEF%) (r = 0.78/0.68, P < 0.001; r = 0.83/0.70, P < 0.001); r = 0.74/0.55, P < 0.001; r = 0.72/0.65, P < 0.001 respectively). In addition, there was significant negative correlation between LV strain/strain rate and GOLD classification (r = -0.80/ -0.69, P < 0.001 respectively).ConclusionSubclinical LV systolic dysfunction can occur in COPD patients despite normal EF. STE is a technique that provides additional information for detailed evaluation of subtle changes in LV myocardial contractility, significantly associated with the severity of the disease in COPD patients.© 2021 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

17 keywords...

hide…