Management of chronic heart failure: Role of home echocardiography in monitoring care programs

Table 1 Clinical and laboratory parameters of the chronic heart failure patients

	Group A	Group B
Sex (M/F)	31/29	29/29
Age (yr)	77 ± 7	78 ± 6
Weight (kg)	73 ± 16	75 ± 20
Height (cm)	164 ± 4	162 ± 8
Body mass index	28 ± 4	26 ± 6
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	140 ± 12	136 ± 10
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	81 ± 8	83 ± 10
Creatinine (mg/dL)	1.8 ± 0.4	1.7 ± 0.6
Azotemia (mg/dL)	62 ± 12	59 ± 10
Uricemia (mg/dL)	6.5 ± 3.0	6.6 ± 2.6
Na (mmol/L)	143 ± 5	141 ± 8
K (mmol/L)	5.0 ± 0.2	4.9 ± 0.8
C-reactive protein (mg/dL)	0.9 ± 0.4	0.9 ± 0.6
B-type natriuretic peptide (pg/dL)	586 ± 260	600 ± 244

Data are expressed as mean ± SD. Differences between groups are not significant.

Table 2 Echocardiographic parameters in the 2 chronic heart failure groups at the beginning of the study and at the end of the study

	At the beginning of the study		At the end of the study
	Group A	Group B	Group A	Group B
End diastolic volume (mL)	170.8 ± 72.8	166.8 ± 78.4	168.8 ± 71.4	170.1 ± 74.2
End systolic volume (mL)	106.3 ± 64.2	105.3 ± 70. 2	108.1 ± 60.1	109.3 ± 60.8
Stroke volume (mL)	60.2 ± 15.8	57.6 ± 18.2	56.2 ± 15.4	57.3 ± 18.3
Ejection fraction (%)	35.8 ± 11.8	35.0 ± 14.0	35.7 ± 10.8	35.8 ± 12.6
Isovolumetric relaxation time (ms)	97.2 ± 25.6	93.9 ± 29.7	97.6 ± 26.2	94.1 ± 30.6
Peak E wave velocity (m/s)	0.86 ± 0.98	0.85 ± 0.68	0.83 ± 0.52	0.88 ± 0.44
Peak A wave velocity (m/s)	0.67 ± 0.69	0.66 ± 0.19	0.66 ± 0.49	0.69 ± 0.32
Peak E deceleration time (ms)	187.6 ± 67.2	190.4 ± 64.4	187.9 ± 63.2	191.7 ± 69.2
TDI peak E’ wave velocity (m/s)	0.09 ± 0.06	0.08 ± 0.09	0.08 ± 0.04	0.08 ± 0.05
TDI peak A’ wave velocity (m/s)	0.08 ± 0.05	0.08 ± 0.07	0.06 ± 0.09	0.07 ± 0.04
E/E’ ratio	10.75 ± 6.31	10.62 ± 5.14	10.5 ± 5.3	11.08 ± 6.2
Pulmonary systolic pressure (mmHg)	24 ± 8	28 ± 6	26 ± 12	30 ± 10

Data are expressed as mean ± SD. Differences between groups are not significant. TDI: Tissue Doppler imaging.

Table 3 Endpoints in the 2 chronic heart failure groups (%)

Endpoint	Group A	Group B
Primary endpoint
Hospitalization	6 (10)	9 (15.5)
Worsening symptoms of HF	4	6
Major vascular events	2	3
Secondary endpoint
Home treated vascular events	1 (1.7)	1 (1.7)
Cardiovascular death	3 (5)	2 (3.4)
Combined endpoint
Cardiovascular deaths + hospitalizations	9 (15)	11 (18.9)

Differences between groups are not significant. HF: Heart failure.