Associations of tissue Doppler imaging with NT-proBNP and hs-TnT: a pilot study in end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND: Diastolic dysfunction is common and associated with higher mortality in the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) population. E/E', a measure derived from tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), is a correlate of left ventricular (LV) filling pressures. E/E' may be viewed as a confirmatory marker of diastolic dysfunction, but it is not routinely used to quantify diastolic dysfunction. Whether E/E' is associated with N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) or high sensitivity troponin T (hs-TnT) in this population is not known.

METHODS: We performed echocardiograms and serology prior to the 2nd or 3rd dialysis session of the week on 35 chronic hemodialysis patients. We compared TDI parameters (E/E' and E' alone), traditional categories of diastolic function (normal, impaired, pseudonormal or restrictive), and ejection fraction (EF) as potential predictors of the outcomes NT-proBNP and hs-TnT.

RESULTS: Higher E/E' was associated with higher NT-proBNP (rho 0.48, P = 0.004) and hs-TnT (rho 0.37, P = 0.03). EF did not have statistically significant associations with NT-proBNP (rho -0.2, P = 0.4) or hs-TnT (rho -0.24, P = 0.16). As compared to patients with normal diastolic function, those with impaired or pseudonormal filling patterns did not have significantly different levels of NT-proBNP (P = 0.46); patients in traditional categories of worsened diastolic function actually had lower hs-TnT (P = 0.02). The associations of E/E' with higher NT-proBNP and hs-TnT persisted after multivariate adjustment for EF, LV mass, and volume status.

CONCLUSIONS: Tissue Doppler imaging may be more useful in evaluating cardiac function than traditional measures of diastolic dysfunction in the ESRD population.