Predictive value of left ventricular myocardial strain by four‐dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography combined with red cell distribution width in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Objectives The diagnostic difficulty of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction ( HF p EF ) is differentiating it in patients with similar symptoms and signs. This study aimed to assess the potential predictive value of left ventricular global longitudinal strain ( GLS ), global radial strain ( GRS ), global circumferential strain ( GCS ), and global area strain ( GAS ) measured by four‐dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (4 DSTE ) combined with red cell distribution width ( RDW ) in patients with HF p EF . Methods One hundred and sixty‐nine patients with symptoms or signs indicative of chronic heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction ( LVEF ) ≥ 50% and fifty controls with normal LVEF were recruited in this study. Standard echocardiography and 4 DSTE examinations were performed. Laboratory examinations including RDW were performed on the same day as the echocardiographic study. Results GLS , GCS , GRS , and GAS in the patient cohort were significantly lower, and RDW was significantly higher than those in the control cohort ( P  <   0.01), and the strain parameters in definite HF p EF patients were also dramatically lower than the rest patients ( P  <   0.01). The associations of age, gender, NYHA classification, hypertension history, left ventricular end‐diastolic volume index, interventricular septal thickness, and diastolic dysfunction with HF p EF were significantly improved by adding 4 DSTE parameters ( P  <   0.01) and further improved by adding RDW ( P  <   0.01). Conclusions In suspected HF p EF patients, who have symptoms or signs of heart failure, even without other conventional evidence of this diagnosis, GLS , GRS , and GCS have potential independent predictive value, while RDW has independent incremental predictive value for HF p EF .