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Background Biomarkers of myocardial stress and fibrosis are elevated in people living with HIV and are associated with cardiac dysfunction. It is unknown whether sex influences these markers of heart failure risk in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV burden is high and where the vast majority of women with HIV live. Methods and Results Echocardiograms and 6 plasma biomarkers (suppression of tumorigenicity-2, growth differentiation factor 15, galectin 3, soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1, NT-proBNP [N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide], and cystatin C) were obtained from 100 people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy and 100 HIV-negative controls in Uganda. All participants were ≥45 years old with ≥1 major cardiovascular risk factor. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used to assess associations between biomarkers, echocardiographic variables, HIV status, and sex, and to assess whether sex modified these associations. Overall, mean age was 56 years and 62% were women. Suppression of tumorigenicity-2 was higher in men versus women ( P <0.001), and growth differentiation factor 15 was higher in people living with HIV versus controls ( P <0.001). Sex modified the HIV effect on cystatin C and NT-proBNP (both P for interaction <0.025). Women had more diastolic dysfunction than men ( P= 0.02), but there was no evidence of sex-modifying HIV effects on cardiac structure and function. Cardiac biomarkers were more strongly associated with left ventricular mass index in men compared with women. Conclusions There are prominent differences in biomarkers of cardiac fibrosis and stress by sex and HIV status in Uganda. The predictive value of cardiac biomarkers for heart failure in people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa should be examined, and novel risk markers for women should be further explored.

Purpose of Review: To summarize recent literature on the use of left atrial strain in the diagnosis and management of patients with heart failure., Recent Findings: Left atrial dysfunction is a hallmark of diastolic dysfunction and heart failure, in particular, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Recently, myocardial deformation analysis via strain and strain rate measurements have been applied to the left atrium. These measurements have been shown to aid in the diagnosis of heart failure and be accurate predictors of cardiac pressures, diastolic dysfunction, exercise performance, and clinical outcomes such as cardiac hospitalizations and mortality. However, limitations related to the technical aspect of accurately imaging and tracking the thin-walled left atrium and the current lack of consensus on 'normal' reference values remain., Summary: Left atrial strain represents a novel, noninvasive technique to aid in the diagnosis, prognosis, and management of patients with heart failure. Although it is not yet a part of routine clinical practice, the measurement has significant promise within this population pending further validation.

Abstract: Aims: While abnormal resting LV GLS has been described in patients with chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), its prognostic significance when measured during an acute heart failure hospitalization remains unclear. We assessed the association between left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LV GLS) and outcomes in patients hospitalized with acute HFpEF. Methods and results: We studied patients discharged alive for acute HFpEF from Duke University Medical Center between 2007 and 2010. Among patients with measurable LV GLS, we performed 2D, speckle‐tracking analysis and Cox proportional hazards models assessed the association between continuous LV GLS and outcomes. Baseline characteristics were stratified by normal (≤−16%) or abnormal (>−16%) LV GLS for comparison. Among 463 patients, the median LV GLS was −12.8% (Interquartile range, −15.8 to −10.8%) and was abnormal in 352 (76%). Overall patients in the cohort were generally elderly, female and had hypertension. After multivariable adjustment, worse outcomes were noted between LV GLS and mortality (HR 1.19 per 1% increase; 95% CI 1.00–1.42; P = 0.046) and a composite endpoint of mortality or rehospitalization at 30 days (HR 1.08 per 1% increase; 95% CI 0.99–1.18; P = 0.08). There was no association between LV GLS and mortality or a composite of mortality or rehospitalization at 1 year. Conclusions: A high prevalence of patients hospitalized with acute HFpEF have abnormal LV GLS suggesting unrecognized myocardial systolic dysfunction. Furthermore, worse LV GLS is associated with worse clinical outcomes at 30 days but not by1 year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with HIV (PWH) are at an increased risk of both heart and kidney disease, but the relationship between kidney disease and cardiac structure and function in this population has not been well studied. In particular, whether the relationship between kidney disease and cardiac structure and function is stronger for PWH compared with uninfected controls is unknown. Methods: One hundred PWH on antiretroviral therapy were compared with 100 age-matched and sex-matched controls without HIV in Uganda. Multivariable regression models were used to examine associations between creatinine-based and cystatin C-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), albumin-creatinine ratio, and echocardiographic measures of cardiac structure and function. Results: PWH had lower eGFRcr (β -7.486, 95% confidence interval: -13.868 to -1.104, P = 0.022) and a higher rate of albumin-creatinine ratio ≥30 (odds ratio 2.146, 95% confidence interval: 1.027 to 4.484, P = 0.042) after adjustment for traditional risk factors. eGFR was inversely associated with both left ventricular mass index and diastolic dysfunction in adjusted models but not with systolic function. Albuminuria was associated with more diastolic dysfunction among PWH but not controls (P for interaction = 0.046). The association of HIV with a higher left ventricular mass index (P = 0.005) was not substantially affected by adjusting for eGFRcr. Conclusion: Among Ugandans, eGFR is associated with elevated LV mass and diastolic dysfunction. The association between albuminuria and diastolic dysfunction is particularly strong for PWH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]