Predicting Heart Failure Hospitalization and Mortality by Quantitative Echocardiography: Is Body Surface Area the Indexing Method of Choice? The Heart and Soul Study
published online 04 March 2010.
Background
Echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular (LV) mass, left atrial (LA) volume, and LV end-systolic volume (ESV) predict heart failure (HF) hospitalization and mortality. Indexing measurements by body size is thought to establish limits of normality among individuals varying in body habitus. The American Society of Echocardiography recommends dividing measurements by body surface area (BSA), but others have advocated alternative indexing methods.
Methods
Echocardiographic measurements were collected in 1024 ambulatory adults with coronary artery disease. LV mass, LA volume, and LV ESV were calculated using truncated ellipse method and biplane method of disk formulae. Comparison between raw measurements and measurements divided by indexing parameters was made by hazard ratios per standard deviation increase in variable and c-statistics for BSA, BSA0.43, BSA1.5, height, height0.25, height2, height2.7, body weight (BW), BW0.26, body mass index (BMI), and BMI0.27.
Results
Mean LV mass was 192 ± 57 g, mean LA volume was 65 ± 24 mL, and mean LV ESV was 41 ± 26 mL. Average height was 171 ± 9 cm, average BSA was 1.94 ± 0.22 m2, and average BMI was 28.4 ± 5.3 kg/m2. At an average follow-up of 5.6 ± 1.8 years, there were 148 HF hospitalizations, 71 cardiovascular (CV) deaths, and 269 all-cause deaths. There was excellent correlation between raw measurements and those indexed by height (r = 0.98-0.99), and moderate correlation between raw measurements and those indexed by BW (r = 0.73-0.94). C-statistics and hazard ratios per standard deviation increase in indexed variables were similar for HF hospitalization, CV mortality, and all-cause mortality. There were no significant differences among indexing methods in ability to predict outcomes.
Conclusion
The choice of indexing method by parameters of BSA, height, BW, and BMI does not affect the clinical usefulness of LV mass, LA volume, and LV ESV in predicting HF hospitalization, CV mortality, or all-cause mortality among ambulatory adults with coronary artery disease. Continued use of BSA to index measurements of LV mass, LA volume, and LV ESV is acceptable.
aCalifornia Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, California
bVeterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California
cVeterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
dUniversity of California, San Francisco, California
Reprint requests: Bryan Ristow, MD, California Pacific Medical Center, Kanbar Cardiology Center, 2333 Buchanan St, San Francisco, CA 94115.
This study was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (Epidemiology Merit Review Program), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Program), the American Foundation for Aging Research (Paul Beeson Faculty Scholars in Aging Research Program), the Nancy Kirwan Heart Research Fund, and an equipment loan from Siemens Corporation(Mountain View, California).
There are no conflicts of interest to report from any of the authors.
ABSTRACT