No abstract

BackgroundStress echocardiography (SE) has an established role in evidence-based guidelines, but recently its breadth and variety of applications have extended well beyond coronary artery disease (CAD). We lack a prospective research study of SE applications, in and beyond CAD, also considering a variety of signs in addition to regional wall motion abnormalities.MethodsIn a prospective, multicenter, international, observational study design, > 100 certified high-volume SE labs (initially from Italy, Brazil, Hungary, and Serbia) will be networked with an organized system of clinical, laboratory and imaging data collection at the time of physical or pharmacological SE, with structured follow-up information. The study is endorsed by the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Echography and organized in 10 subprojects focusing on: contractile reserve for prediction of cardiac resynchronization or medical therapy response; stress B-lines in heart failure; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; heart failure with preserved ejection fraction; mitral regurgitation after either transcatheter or surgical aortic valve replacement; outdoor SE in extreme physiology; right ventricular contractile reserve in repaired Tetralogy of Fallot; suspected or initial pulmonary arterial hypertension; coronary flow velocity, left ventricular elastance reserve and B-lines in known or suspected CAD; identification of subclinical familial disease in genotype-positive, phenotype- negative healthy relatives of inherited disease (such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).ResultsWe expect to recruit about 10,000 patients over a 5-year period (2016-2020), with sample sizes ranging from 5,000 for coronary flow velocity/ left ventricular elastance/ B-lines in CAD to around 250 for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or repaired Tetralogy of Fallot. This data-base will allow to investigate technical questions such as feasibility and reproducibility of various SE parameters and to assess their prognostic value in different clinical scenarios.ConclusionsThe study will create the cultural, informatic and scientific infrastructure connecting high-volume, accredited SE labs, sharing common criteria of indication, execution, reporting and image storage of SE to obtain original safety, feasibility, and outcome data in evidence-poor diagnostic fields, also outside the established core application of SE in CAD based on regional wall motion abnormalities. The study will standardize procedures, validate emerging signs, and integrate the new information with established knowledge, helping to build a next-generation SE lab without inner walls.

The purpose of this study was to assess the functional and prognostic correlates of B-lines during stress echocardiography (SE). BACKGROUND B-profile detected by lung ultrasound (LUS) is a sign of pulmonary congestion during SE. METHODS The authors prospectively performed transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and LUS in 2,145 patients referred for exercise (n ¼ 1,012), vasodilator (n ¼ 1,054), or dobutamine (n ¼ 79) SE in 11 certified centers. B-lines were evaluated in a 4-site simplified scan (each site scored from 0: A-lines to 10: white lung for coalescing B-lines). During stress the following were also analyzed: stress-induced new regional wall motion abnormalities in 2 contiguous segments; reduced left ventricular contractile reserve (peak/rest based on force, #2.0 for exercise and dobutamine, #1.1 for vasodilators); and abnormal coronary flow velocity reserve #2.0, assessed by pulsed-wave Doppler sampling in left anterior descending coronary artery and abnormal heart rate reserve (peak/rest heart rate) #1.80 for exercise and dobutamine (#1.22 for vasodilators). All patients completed follow-up. RESULTS According to B-lines at peak stress patients were divided into 4 different groups: group I, absence of stress B-lines (score: 0 to 1; n ¼ 1,389; 64.7%); group II, mild B-lines (score: 2 to 4; n ¼ 428; 20%); group III, moderate B-lines (score: 5 to 9; n ¼ 209; 9.7%) and group IV, severe B-lines (score: $10; n ¼ 119; 5.4%). During median follow-up of 15.2 months (interquartile range: 12 to 20 months) there were 38 deaths and 28 nonfatal myocardial infarctions in 64 patients. At multivariable analysis, severe stress B-lines (hazard ratio [