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Impact of heart failure and changes to volume status on liver stiffness: non-invasive assessment using transient

Ingrid Hopper1, William Kemp, Pornwalee Porapakkham

  • 1Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, The Alfred Center, Melbourne, Australia. ingrid.hopper@monash.edu

European Journal of Heart Failure
|April 24, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Cardiac dysfunction increases liver stiffness (LSM) as measured by FibroScan(®), indicating potential liver issues in heart failure patients. Acute volume changes did not significantly alter LSM measurements in this study.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Hepatology
  • Medical Diagnostics

Background:

  • Cardiac dysfunction can lead to cardiac hepatopathy, potentially causing hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis.
  • The reliability of non-invasive tools like FibroScan(®) for assessing liver stiffness (LSM) in cardiac dysfunction is not well-established.
  • Understanding LSM variations in heart failure is crucial for managing liver complications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of cardiac dysfunction on liver stiffness measurements (LSM) using FibroScan(®).
  • To investigate the influence of acute volume status changes on LSM in patients with heart failure and in those undergoing hemodialysis.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective, cross-sectional study involving patients with left-sided heart failure (LHF), right-sided heart failure (RHF), and acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).
  • Liver stiffness was measured using FibroScan(®) in patient groups and compared to healthy controls.
  • LSM was reassessed after diuresis in ADHF patients and after ultrafiltration in a hemodialysis (HD) group to assess the impact of volume changes.

Main Results:

  • Patients with LHF, RHF, and ADHF showed significantly increased LSM compared to healthy controls.
  • Specifically, RHF and ADHF groups exhibited markedly elevated LSM.
  • Diuresis in ADHF patients and ultrafiltration in HD patients did not result in statistically significant alterations in LSM.

Conclusions:

  • Increased liver stiffness measurements are observed in patients with cardiac dysfunction.
  • Acute changes in volume status do not appear to significantly affect LSM readings in the context of heart failure or hemodialysis.
Abstract

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