Aims Cardiac involvement, a major determinant of prognosis in AL (light-chain immunoglobulin) amyloidosis, is characterized by an impairment of longitudinal strain (LS%). We sought to evaluate the utility of LS% in a prospectively observed series of patients. Methods and results A total of 915 serial newly diagnosed AL patients with comprehensive baseline assessments, inclusive of echocardiography, were included. A total of 628/915 (68.6%) patients had cardiac involvement. The LS% worsened with advancing cardiac stage with mean −21.1%, −17.1%, −12.9%, and −12.1% for stages I, II, IIIa, and IIIb, respectively (P < 0.0001). There was a highly significant worsening of overall survival (OS) with worsening LS% quartile: LS% ≤−16.2%: 80 months, −16.1% to −12.2%: 36 [95% confidence interval (CI) 20.9–51.1] months, −12.1% to −9.1%: 22 (95% CI 9.1–34.9) months, and ≥−9.0%: 5 (95% CI 3.2–6.8) months (P < 0.0001). Improvement in LS% was seen at 12 months in patients achieving a haematological complete response (CR) (median improvement from −13.8% to −14.9% in those with CR and difference between involved and uninvolved light chain <10 mg/L). Strain improvement was associated with improved OS (median not reached at 53 months vs. 72 months in patients without strain improvement, P = 0.007). Patients achieving an LS% improvement and a standard N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide-based cardiac response survived longer than those achieving a biomarker-based cardiac response alone (P < 0.0001). Conclusion Baseline LS% is a functional marker that correlates with worsening cardiac involvement and is predictive of survival. Baseline LS% and an absolute improvement in LS% are useful additional measures of prognosis and response to therapy in cardiac AL amyloidosis, respectively.
Background: Cardiac involvement is the major determinant of prognosis in systemic AL amyloidosis. The extent is assessed by cardiac biomarker-based staging system using N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and Troponin T. Longitudinal strain evaluates the global and regional function of the left ventricle (LV) and may be preferable to both LV ejection fraction and NT-proBNP, which is limited by its sensitivity to changes in fluid balance, in determining prognosis. This is the first report of a large cohort of uniformly treated prospectively followed patients assessing the utility of changes in longitudinal function by 2-D strain (LS%), impairment of which is a hallmark of amyloidosis. Methods: 915 newly diagnosed patients seen at the UK National Amyloidosis Centre (February 2010 - August 2017) were studied. All patients underwent comprehensive assessments including echo-cardiogram at baseline and each follow up visit. Results: 628/915 (68.6%) patients had cardiac involvement. Mayo stage I, II, IIIa and IIIb in 144 (15.7%), 302 (33.0%) 344 (37.6%) and 125 (13.7%) respectively. Impairment of LS% correlated significantly with increasing Mayo stage (p<0.0001 between LS% for each Mayo stage). At 12 months, only patients with complete haematological responses (CR) had significant improvement in LS% (overall p=0.04; regional baso-lateral p=0.007, and baso-septal p=0.007). The median overall survival (OS) of the whole cohort was 61 months; survival of Mayo stage I and II patients was not reached whilst OS in Mayo stage IIIa and IIIb patients was 30 and 4 months respectively. Patients with cardiac involvement were stratified into 3 baseline LS% groups (≤17%; 10.3-16.9%; and ≥10.2%) with poor baseline LS% being associated with shorter OS (p<0.0001). These groups predicted survival independently of Mayo stage. OS was superior in patients who achieved a minimum absolute improvement in LS% of 1.5% when analysed at either 12 (not reached vs. 72 months, p=0.008) and 24 (not reached vs. 80 months, p<0.0001) months from diagnosis. Patients achieving a LS% response (1.5%) improvement survived longer than those achieving a traditional cardiac response alone or no cardiac response at both 12 and 24 months (p<0.0001). Conclusion: Longitudinal strain is an informative functional marker that is independent of Mayo staging in predicting outcomes in patients with cardiac AL amyloidosis which can be incorporated in prognostic staging for these patients. Improvement in LS% was observed in patients who achieved a CR, and a value of 1.5% was associated with superior outcomes over and above achieving a cardiac response by international consensus criteria. An absolute improvement in LS% should be considered a criterion for cardiac response in AL amyloidosis. Disclosures Wechalekar: Caelum: Other: Advisory; Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Advisory; Takeda: Honoraria, Other: Travel; Celgene: Honoraria.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.