European Journal of Heart Failure Supplements ( 2012 ) UK
Overview:
Hemodynamic dysfunction is often used as part of the definition for heart failure (HF), predicts an adverse outcome and could be an important target for therapy but is rarely measured in routine practice, perhaps because simple, effective, inexpensive technology is lacking. We assessed the ability of whole-body electrical bioimpedance to measure hemodynamics non-invasively.
Sample size:
51 patients (15 women).
Results:
As expected, compared with controls, patients with HF had higher plasma NTproBNP, worse renal function, lower CPI (0.64±0.25w/m2 vs. 0.47±0.18w/m2:p< 0.01) but TBW was similar (47±9% vs. 46±8%:p=0.74).
Conclusion:
In patients with HF and sinus rhythm, whole-body bioimpedance might be a useful method of monitoring the hemodynamic severity of heart failure that is quick, simple, and inexpensive. Whether it is as or more useful than NTproBNP as a marker of outcome awaits the results of large long-term studies.
