Histomorphometric features predict 1-year outcome of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy considered to be at low priority for cardiac transplantation

Autor: Francesco Pelliccia, Benedetto Marino, Giulia d'Amati, Cinzia Cianfrocca, Paola Bernucci, Pietro Gallo, Antonio Nigri
Rok vydání: 1994
Předmět:
Zdroj: American heart journal. 128(2)
ISSN: 0002-8703
Popis: Cardiac transplantation for patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) and poor left ventricular function usually is postponed until symptoms have become intolerable. However, the short-term prognosis of this subset of patients has been defined poorly. Accordingly, the 1-year outcome was investigated in 30 patients with IDC with an ejection fractionor = 25% who showed a stabilized clinical condition at assessment for transplantation and were therefore considered at low priority for surgery. During follow-up, 10 patients (group A) showed a poor outcome: 2 died suddenly, and 8 had hemodynamic failure (4 of whom underwent transplantation and 4 of whom died from heart failure while on the waiting list). The remaining 20 patients (group B) had a benign outcome. At assessment for cardiac transplantation, clinical and electrocardiographic features, left ventricular dimension, and ejection fraction were similar between the two groups. However, group A patients had higher left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (p0.03) and lower cardiac index (p0.02) and stroke volume index (p0.03) with respect to group B patients. In addition, the former had a lower myofibril volume fraction (p0.001) and a higher nuclear area (p0.001) compared with the latter. Multivariate analysis selected myofibril volume fraction (p0.001) and nuclear area (p0.005) as the only independent predictors of a poor 1-year outcome. The combination of myofibril volume fractionor = 89% and nuclear area50 microns 2 was found in all group A patients (sensitivity 100%) but in only 2 group B patients (specificity 90%). It is concluded that in patients with IDC considered at low priority for cardiac transplantation: (1) the 1-year freedom from a cardiac event is lower than that currently expected with surgery; (2) histomorphometric features, that is, the concurrency of low myofibril volume fraction and increased nuclear area, predict short-term outcome; and (3) endomyocardial biopsy at assessment for cardiac transplantation might improve the rationalization of the timing of the procedure.
Databáze: OpenAIRE