Analyses of factors influencing myocardial fibrosis in non-ischemic heart failure patients

Objective To investigate the potential factors influencing myocardial fibrosis (MF) in non-ischemic heart failure(HF) patients with an emphasis on the role of right heart catheter (RHC) parameters. Methods This retrospective research collected clinical data from 33 non-ischemic heart failure patients admitted to China-Japan Friendship Hospital who received endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) and right heart catheter (RHC) examination. All the patients were divided into two groups: mild MF (n=17) and severe MF (n=16), by means of K-means cluster analysis. MF was quantitatively evaluated by Masson staining. Potential factors influencing MF were analyzed. Results Compared with that in mild MF group, patients in severe MF group had aggravated cardiac function (cardiac index, 2.15±0.76 vs. 2.94±1.10,P＜0.05), accompanied by higher systolic right ventricle pressure (RVP), systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP), pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (PAWP) and total pulmonary resistance (TPR) (P＜0.05). Hypertension and TPR were independently correlated with the degree of MF in multiple linear regression analysis (Adjusted R2=0.454, P＜0.001). Conclusions Hypertension and TPR, reflecting afterload of left and right ventricle, are found to be independently correlated with degree of MF in non-isch- emic heart failure patients. Cardiologists should pay more attention to high-risk patients in order to retard MF progression through timely intervention.