Left ventricular global longitudinal strain and cardiorespiratory fitness in patients with heart failure: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

There is no definition for strain deformation values in relation to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in different heart failure (HF) phenotypes.

Aim

To identify the relationship between echocardiographic systolic function measurements and CRF in HF patients.

Methods

Systematic review and meta-analysis following the PRISMA recommendations. Studies reporting echocardiographic assessments of left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and direct measurement of peak oxygen uptake (VO_2peak) in HF patients with reduced or preserved LVEF (HFrEF, HFpEF) were included. The patients were divided into Weber classes according to VO_2peak.

Results

A total of 25 studies involving of 2,136 patients (70.5% with HFpEF) were included. Mean LVEF and LVGLS were similar in HFpEF patients in Weber Class A/B and Class C/D. In HFrEF patients, a non-significant difference was found in LVEF between Weber Class A/B (30.2% [95%CI: 29.6 to 30.9%]) and Class C/D (25.2% [95%CI: 20.5 to 29.9%]). In HFrEF patients, mean LVGLS was significantly lower in Class C/D compared to Class A/B (6.5% [95%CI: 6.0 to 7.1%] and 10.3% [95%CI: 9.0 to 11.5%], respectively). The correlation between VO_2peak and LVGLS (r² = 0.245) was nearly twofold stronger than that between VO_2peak and LVEF (r² = 0.137).

Conclusions

Low LVGLS values were associated with low CRF in HFrEF patients. Although a weak correlation was found between systolic function at rest and CRF, the correlation between VO_2peak and LVGLS was nearly twofold stronger than that with LVEF, indicating that LVGLS may be a better predictor of CRF in patients with HFrEF.