BACKGROUND: The level of Galectin-3 (Gal-3) protein purportedly reflects an ongoing cardiac fibrotic process and has been associated with ventricular remodeling, which is instrumental in the development of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) syndrome. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential use of Gal-3 in improved characterization of the grades of diastolic dysfunction as defined by echocardiography. METHODS: Seventy HFpEF patients undergoing routine echocardiography were prospectively enrolled in the present monocentric study. Blood samples for measurements of Gal-3 and amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were collected within 24 hours pre- or post-echocardiographic examination. The classification of patients into subgroups based on diastolic dysfunction grade permitted detailed statistical analyses of the derived data. RESULTS: The Gal-3 serum levels of all patients corresponded to echocardiographic indices, suggesting HFpEF (E/A, P=0.03 and E/E', P=0.02). Gal-3 was also associated with progressive diastolic dysfunction, and increased levels corresponded to the course of disease (P=0.012). Detailed analyses of ROC curves suggested that Gal-3 levels could discriminate patients with grade III diastolic dysfunction (area under the curve [AUC]=0.770, P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Gal-3 demonstrates remarkable effectiveness in the diagnosis of patients suffering from severe grade diastolic dysfunction. Increasing levels of Gal-3 possibly reflect the progressive course of HFpEF, as classified by the echocardiographic grades of diastolic dysfunction.
Classification ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography* ; Galectin 3* ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Prospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Ventricular Remodeling

BACKGROUND: As a result of improved and novel treatment strategies, the spectrum of patients with cardiovascular disease is consistently changing. Overall, those patients are typically older and characterized by increased burden with comorbidities. Limited data on the prognostic impact of age in cardiogenic shock (CS) is available. Therefore, this study investigates the prognostic impact of age in patients with CS. METHODS: From 2019 to 2021, consecutive patients with CS of any cause were included. The prognostic value of age (i.e., 60-80 years and > 80 years) was investigated for 30-day all-cause mortality. Spearman's correlations, Kaplan-Meier analyses, as well as multivariable Cox proportional regression analyses were performed for statistics. Subsequent risk assessment was performed based on the presence or absence of CS related to acute myocardial infarction (AMI). RESULTS: 223 CS patients were included with a median age of 77 years (interquartile range: 69-82 years). No significant difference in 30-day all-cause mortality was observed for both age-groups (54.6% vs. 63.4%, log-rank P = 0.169; HR = 1.273, 95% CI: 0.886-1.831, P = 0.192). In contrast, when analyzing subgroups stratified by CS-etiology, AMI-related CS patients of the group > 80 years showed an increased risk of 30-day all-cause mortality (78.1% vs. 60.0%, log-rank P = 0.032; HR = 1.635, 95% CI: 1.000-2.673, P = 0.050), which was still evident after multivariable adjustment (HR = 2.072, 95% CI: 1.174-3.656, P = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS Age was not associated with 30-day all-cause mortality in patients with CS of mixed etiology. However, increasing age was shown to be a significant predictor of increased mortality-risk in the subgroup of patients presenting with AMI-CS.