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Comparing impedance cardiography and echocardiography in the assessment of reduced left ventricular systolic function

Kaszuba, Elzbieta LU ; Scheel, Sergej ; Odeberg, Håkan LU and Halling, Anders LU (2013) In BMC Research Notes 6(114). p.1-5
Abstract
Background
An early and accurate diagnosis of chronic heart failure is a big challenge for a general practitioner. Assessment of left ventricular function is essential for the diagnosis of heart failure and the prognosis. A gold standard for identifying left ventricular function is echocardiography. Echocardiography requires input from specialized care and has a limited access in Swedish primary health care. Impedance cardiography (ICG) is a noninvasive and low-cost method of examination. The survey technique is simple and ICG measurement can be performed by a general practitioner. ICG has been suggested for assessment of left ventricular function in patients with heart failure. We aimed to study the association between hemodynamic... (More)
Background
An early and accurate diagnosis of chronic heart failure is a big challenge for a general practitioner. Assessment of left ventricular function is essential for the diagnosis of heart failure and the prognosis. A gold standard for identifying left ventricular function is echocardiography. Echocardiography requires input from specialized care and has a limited access in Swedish primary health care. Impedance cardiography (ICG) is a noninvasive and low-cost method of examination. The survey technique is simple and ICG measurement can be performed by a general practitioner. ICG has been suggested for assessment of left ventricular function in patients with heart failure. We aimed to study the association between hemodynamic parameters measured by ICG and the value of ejection fraction as a determinant of reduced left ventricular systolic function in echocardiography.

Methods
A non-interventional, observational study conducted in the outpatients heart failure unit. Thirty-six patients with the diagnosis of chronic heart failure were simultaneously examined by echocardiography and ICG. Distribution of categorical variables was presented as numbers. Distribution of continuous variables was presented as a mean and 95% Confidence Interval. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare variables and show differences between the groups. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.
Results

We found that three ICG parameters: pre-ejection fraction, left ventricular ejection time and systolic time ratio were significantly associated with ejection fraction measured by echocardiography.

Conclusions
The association which we found between EF and ICG parameters was not reported in previous studies. We found no association between EF and ICG parameters which were suggested previously as the determinants of reduced left ventricular systolic function.

The knowledge concerning explanation of hemodynamic parameters measured by ICG that is available nowadays is not sufficient to adopt the method in practice and use it to describe left ventricular systolic dysfunction. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Heart failure, Reduced left ventricular function, Impedance cardiography, Echocardiography
in
BMC Research Notes
volume
6
issue
114
pages
5 pages
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:84875348402
  • pmid:23531417
ISSN
1756-0500
DOI
10.1186/1756-0500-6-114
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3960cdd9-9803-4406-8af0-b11c8ff6ea2f
date added to LUP
2018-01-29 20:35:58
date last changed
2022-02-22 08:14:40
@article{3960cdd9-9803-4406-8af0-b11c8ff6ea2f,
  abstract     = {{Background<br>
An early and accurate diagnosis of chronic heart failure is a big challenge for a general practitioner. Assessment of left ventricular function is essential for the diagnosis of heart failure and the prognosis. A gold standard for identifying left ventricular function is echocardiography. Echocardiography requires input from specialized care and has a limited access in Swedish primary health care. Impedance cardiography (ICG) is a noninvasive and low-cost method of examination. The survey technique is simple and ICG measurement can be performed by a general practitioner. ICG has been suggested for assessment of left ventricular function in patients with heart failure. We aimed to study the association between hemodynamic parameters measured by ICG and the value of ejection fraction as a determinant of reduced left ventricular systolic function in echocardiography.<br>
<br>
Methods<br>
A non-interventional, observational study conducted in the outpatients heart failure unit. Thirty-six patients with the diagnosis of chronic heart failure were simultaneously examined by echocardiography and ICG. Distribution of categorical variables was presented as numbers. Distribution of continuous variables was presented as a mean and 95% Confidence Interval. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare variables and show differences between the groups. A p-value of &lt;0.05 was considered significant.<br>
Results<br>
<br>
We found that three ICG parameters: pre-ejection fraction, left ventricular ejection time and systolic time ratio were significantly associated with ejection fraction measured by echocardiography.<br>
<br>
Conclusions<br>
The association which we found between EF and ICG parameters was not reported in previous studies. We found no association between EF and ICG parameters which were suggested previously as the determinants of reduced left ventricular systolic function.<br>
<br>
The knowledge concerning explanation of hemodynamic parameters measured by ICG that is available nowadays is not sufficient to adopt the method in practice and use it to describe left ventricular systolic dysfunction.}},
  author       = {{Kaszuba, Elzbieta and Scheel, Sergej and Odeberg, Håkan and Halling, Anders}},
  issn         = {{1756-0500}},
  keywords     = {{Heart failure; Reduced left ventricular function; Impedance cardiography; Echocardiography}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  number       = {{114}},
  pages        = {{1--5}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Research Notes}},
  title        = {{Comparing impedance cardiography and echocardiography in the assessment of reduced left ventricular systolic function}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-6-114}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/1756-0500-6-114}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}