Ventriculo-arterial coupling in patients with stable ischemic heart disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

To investigate ventriculo-arterial coupling (VAC) and its components (E_a, E_es) in patients with stable ischemic heart disease and changes following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). 129 patients with stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD) undergoing PCI (study group) and 40 individuals without IHD (control group) were enrolled. VAC was calculated using echocardiography method at baseline and 1, 3, and 6 months after PCI. A linear mixed-effects models with restricted maximum likelihood were used to assess the impact of PCI on E_a, E_es, VAC over 6-month follow-up. Mean age of the SIHD group was 67.8 ± 8.1 (years), and predominantly men (73.6%). In the SIHD group, baseline median E_a, E_es and VAC were 2.52 (IQR 1.89-3.28) (mmHg/ml), 3.87 (IQR 2.90-4.95) (mmHg/ml), and 0.64 (IQR 0.54-0.79), respectively. Patients with SIHD had significantly lower E_es and higher VAC when compared to the control group (p < 0.05). E_es (p = 0.01) and VAC (p < 0.001) were significantly improved over 6 month follow-up after PCI. Notably, the degree of VAC improvement appears to be related to stented artery (Table 3). VAC obtained from echocardiographic methodology demonstrated a significant increase in patients with SIHD at baseline. This observation may represent a plausible mechanism for the benefit of PCI in SIHD. Hence, VAC may be a feasible parameter in the assessment of patients with SIHD.