Background: Myocardial contraction fraction (MCF) is a volumetric measure of myocardial shortening independent of left ventricular size and geometry. This multicenter study investigates the usefulness of MCF for risk stratification in low-gradient severe aortic stenosis with preserved ejection fraction.
Methods: We included 643 consecutive patients with low-gradient severe aortic stenosis with preserved ejection fraction in whom MCF was computed at baseline and analyzed mortality during follow-up.
Results: Throughout follow-up with medical and surgical management (34.9 [16.1-65.3] months), lower MCF tertiles had higher mortality than the highest tertile. Eighty-month survival was 56±4% for MCF>41%, 41±4% for MCF 30% to 41%, and 40±4% for MCF<30% (P<0.001). After comprehensive adjustment, mortality risk remained high for MCF 30% to 41% (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.53 [1.08-2.18]) and for MCF<30% (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.82 [1.24-2.66]) versus MCF>41%. The optimal MCF cutoff point for mortality prediction was 41%. Age, body mass index, Charlson index, peak aortic velocity, and ejection fraction were independently associated with mortality. MCF (χ2 to improve 10.39; P=0.001), provided greater additional prognostic value over the baseline parameters than stroke volume (SV) index (χ2 to improve 5.41; P=0.042), left ventricular mass index (χ2 to improve 2.15; P=0.137), or global longitudinal strain (χ2 to improve 3.67; P=0.061). MCF outperformed ejection fraction for mortality prediction. When patients were classified by SV index and MCF, mortality risk was low when SV index was ≥30 mL/m2 and MCF>41%, higher for patients with SV index ≥30 mL/m2 and MCF≤41% (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.47 [1.05-2.07]) and extremely high for patients with SV index <30 mL/m2 (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.29 [1.45-3.62]).
Conclusions: MCF is a valuable marker of risk in low-gradient severe aortic stenosis with preserved ejection fraction and could improve decision-making, especially in normal-flow low-gradient severe aortic stenosis with preserved ejection fraction.
Keywords: aortic valve stenosis; echocardiography; mortality; myocardial contraction; stroke volume.