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The temporal relationship between cirrhotic cardiomyopathy, progression of liver disease, and survival remains unknown. Our aim was to investigate the development of structural and functional cardiac changes over time with the progression of cirrhosis and outcome. Sixty-three cirrhotic outpatients (Child class: A = 9, B = 46, C = 8) and 14 healthy controls were included in this 2-yr longitudinal study. Advanced cardiac characteristics such as cardiac MRI with extracellular volume (ECV) quantification, speckle tracking echocardiography, and biomarkers were assessed at 0/6/12/18/24 mo. Patients were followed-up for a median of 30 mo with registration of acute decompensations (ADs), liver transplantations (LTs), and deaths. Patients who progressed, underwent LT or died had more pronounced cardiac dysfunction, structural myocardial changes, and left atrial enlargement. Conversely, limited cardiac deterioration was seen in patients who remained stable or improved in cirrhosis. During follow-up 25 patients developed AD, 4 underwent LT, and 20 died. Mean arterial pressure was the only cardiovascular parameter associated with death in a univariate analysis ( P = 0.037), and the main predictors were model for end-stage liver disease and age. However, last-visit myocardial ECV was independently associated with the combined end point of LT/death ( P = 0.001), and in patients with AD a low cardiac index was independently associated with death ( P = 0.01). Cardiac function seems to deteriorate with the progression of cirrhosis and affects prognosis, especially in patients with AD. Conversely, patients with stable cirrhosis have limited progression in cardiac dysfunction over a 2-yr period with modest impact on survival. The results encourage careful cardiac monitoring in advanced cirrhosis. NEW & NOTEWORTHY For the first time, we have performed advanced cardiac imaging to investigate the development of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy over 2 years. We show that cardiac dysfunction deteriorates with progression of cirrhosis and may affect the prognosis in patients developing acute decompensation. Especially, structural myocardial abnormalities, left atrial enlargement, and a hypodynamic cardiac state seem of importance. Conversely, limited cardiac progression is seen in stable cirrhosis. These findings provide new insight into our understanding of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy.

Individuals with sleep disordered breathing (SDB) can experience changes in automatic cardiac regulation as a result of frequent sleep fragmentation and disturbance in normal respiration and oxygenation that accompany most apnea/hypopnea events. In adults, these changes are reflected in enhanced sympathetic and reduced parasympathetic activity. In this study, we examined the autonomic cardiac regulation in children with and without SDB, through spectral and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) of pulse rate variability (PRV). PRV was measured from pulse-to-pulse intervals (PPIs) of the photoplethysmogram (PPG) recorded from 160 children using the Phone Oximeter(™) in the standard setting of overnight polysomnography. Spectral analysis of PRV showed the cardiac parasympathetic index (high frequency, HF) was lower (p < 0.01) and cardiac sympathetic indices (low frequency, LF and LF/HF ratio) were higher (p < 0.01) during apnea/hypopnea events for more than 95% of children with SDB. DFA showed the short- and long-range fluctuations of heart rate were more strongly correlated in children with SDB compared to children without SDB. These findings confirm that the analysis of the PPG recorded using the Phone Oximeter(™) could be the basis for a new screening tool for assessing PRV in non-clinical environment.

Background and Aim: Cardiac dysfunction in patients with early cirrhosis is debated. We investigated potential cardiac dysfunction by assessing left ventricular systolic performance during a dobutamine stress test in patients with early cirrhosis., Patients and Methods: Nineteen patients with Child A and B cirrhosis (9 with non-alcoholic cirrhosis) and 7 matched controls were included. We used cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to assess left ventricular volumes and cardiac output (CO) at rest and during maximal heart rate induced by increasing dosages of dobutamine and atropine., Results: Patients with cirrhosis and controls had an equal stress response, the heart rate and ejection fraction increased similarly and maximal heart rate was reached in all. At rest CO was higher in Child B patients than controls. During maximal stress, Child B patients had higher CO (10.6±2.7 vs. 8.0±1.8 L/min), left ventricle end diastolic volume (90±25 vs. 67±16 mL), left ventricular end diastolic volume (10±4 vs. 6±2 mL) and stroke volume (80±23 vs. 61±15 mL) than Child A patients. The systemic vascular resistance was lower in Child B than Child A patients (670±279 vs. 911±274 dyne*s*cm(-5)). The left ventricle mass increased by 5.6 gram per model for end stage liver disease (MELD) point. MELD score correlated with the end diastolic and systolic volume, CO, and stroke volume at rest and at stress (all p<0.05)., Conclusion: In patients with early cirrhosis the chronotropoic and inotropic response to pharmacological stress induced by dobutamine is normal. With progression of the disease, the mass of the heart increases along with increase in cardiac volumes.

OBJECTIVE. Presence of cardiac dysfunction in patients with advanced cirrhosis is widely accepted, but data in early stages of cirrhosis are limited. Systolic and diastolic functions, dynamics of QT-interval, and pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (pro-ANP) are investigated in patients with early stage cirrhosis during maximal β-adrenergic drive. MATERIAL AND METHODS. Nineteen patients with Child A (n = 12) and Child B cirrhosis (n = 7) and seven matched controls were studied during cardiac stress induced by increasing dosages of dobutamine and atropine. RESULTS. Pharmacological responsiveness was similar in cirrhosis and controls and the heart rate (HR) increased by 66 ± 15 versus 67 ± 8 min(-1). HR-blood pressure product increased equally by 115% in both cirrhotic patients and controls. However, time to resume HR of 100 beats/min was significantly longer in cirrhosis, p < 0.01. The QTc interval increased after dobutamine infusion in cirrhosis (0.41 ± 0.02 vs. 0.43 ± 0.02 s, p = 0.001) but similar electrophysiological changes were seen in controls. Cardiac volumes increased with the severity of disease. The increased cardiac output was primarily attributed to increased stroke volume. The ejection fraction was similar in patients and controls. Peak filling rate was longer in cirrhosis compared to controls (1.8 ± 0.4 and 1.4 ± 0.2 end-diastolic volume/s, p < 0.01). Pro-ANP was higher in cirrhosis and increased during stress by 13% compared to 0% in controls, p < 0.01. CONCLUSIONS. These findings indicate that patients with early stage cirrhosis exhibit early diastolic and autonomic dysfunction as well as elevated pro-ANP. However, the cardiac chronotropic and inotropic responses to dobutamine stress were normal. The dynamics of ventricular repolarization appears normal in patients with early stage cirrhosis.

A questionnaire was sent to all departments of nuclear medicine in Denmark (n=20) asking for details of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), including the number of patients examined each year from 1997 to 2001 and the current clinical and technical practice. All (100%) departments replied, and the survey thus covers all MPI performed in Denmark during the period in question. The number of MPI studies (examined patients) was 2,531 in 1997 (0.47 MPI/1,000/year) and 4,961 (0.93 MPI/1,000/year) in 2001, which is a doubling in activity in 5 years. Nineteen (95%) of the Danish departments performed MPI in 2001, and 14 (74%) of these reported that activity had increased over the past 5 years. MPI activity was unevenly distributed between hospitals and regions. In 2001, the university hospitals in the central Copenhagen region (capital) accounted for the highest MPI activity (2.00/1,000/year), while the non-university hospitals in general had the lowest activity rate (0.73/1,000/year). The most pronounced increment found in the period was observed in the university hospitals outside Copenhagen, where activity increased by 300% from 0.44/1,000/year in 1997 to 1.33/1,000/year in 2001. All departments providing MPI used tomographic acquisition technique and all departments used technetium tracers. The more sophisticated techniques of MPI - gated acquisition, attenuation correction and iterative reconstruction - were used in 74%, 32% and 42% of departments, respectively. The stress mode in perfusion studies was dipyridamole/adenosine in 76%, exercise in 18% and dobutamine in 6%. Despite these encouraging figures, MPI activity for 2001 remained well below what is recommended by other national and international societies. The anticipated further increase in nuclear cardiology is encouraging, but the nuclear medicine community needs to address the issues that prevent it from keeping up with demand. In general, the restricted camera time and the limited number of trained personnel explain the excessive waiting lists in Denmark.