Prognostic Value of Lung Ultrasound in Aortic Stenosis

István Adorján Szabó; Luna Gargani; Blanka Morvai-Illés; Nóra Polestyuk-Németh; Attila Frigy; Albert Varga; Gergely Ágoston

doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.838479

Prognostic Value of Lung Ultrasound in Aortic Stenosis

Front Physiol. 2022 Apr 5:13:838479. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.838479. eCollection 2022.

Authors

István Adorján Szabó¹, Luna Gargani², Blanka Morvai-Illés³, Nóra Polestyuk-Németh³, Attila Frigy¹, Albert Varga³, Gergely Ágoston³

Affiliations

¹ GE Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Tîrgu Mure, Tîrgu Mure, Romania.
² Department of Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
³ Department of Family Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.

Abstract

Background: Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common primary valve lesion requiring intervention in Europe and North America. It has a prolonged subclinical period during which, as AS worsens, left ventricular adaptation becomes inadequate and impaired systolic and/or diastolic dysfunction may lead to overt heart failure (HF). The development of HF is an inflexion point in the natural history of AS. Pulmonary congestion is a cardinal feature in HF, and lung ultrasound (LUS) evaluation of B-lines has been proposed as a simple, noninvasive tool to assess pulmonary congestion. Aim: To assess the presence and the prognostic value of sonographic pulmonary congestion in patients with moderate or severe AS. Methods: 75 consecutive patients (39 women, mean age 73.85 ± 7.7 years) with moderate or severe AS were enrolled. All patients underwent comprehensive echocardiography and LUS with the 28 scanning-site assessment. Patients were followed-up for 13.4 ± 6 months to establish the prognostic value of LUS. A composite endpoint of death (of any cause), hospitalization for HF and intensification of loop diuretic therapy was considered. Results: We found a severe degree of B-lines (≥30) in 29.33% of patients. The number of B-lines correlated with the estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (p < 0.001, r = 0.574) and increased along with NYHA class (p < 0.05, rho = 0.383). At multivariable analysis, B-lines ≥30, and mean gradient were the independent predictors of events [B-lines: 2.79 (CI 1.03-7.54), p = 0.04; mean gradient: 1.04 (CI 1.01-1.07), p = 0.004]. Conclusion: Evaluation of B-lines is a simple, highly feasible method to detect pulmonary congestion in AS. The number of B-lines correlates with the hemodynamic changes caused by AS and with the functional status of patients. A severe degree of sonographic pulmonary congestion is associated with an increased risk of adverse events.

Keywords: aortic stenosis; heart failure; lung ultrasound; prognosis; pulmonary congestion.