Echocardiographic Parameters Associated with Bendopnea in Patients with Systolic Heart Failure

Target: 

Bendopnea, defined as dyspnea while bending, can be observed in patients with heart failure (HF). In this study, we investigated the frequency of this symptom in patients with systolic HF and its association with echocardiographic parameters.

In this study, patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤45% and decompensated HF referred to our clinics were prospectively recruited. All patients were examined by cardiologists for collecting data on the presence of bendopnea and baseline characteristics. They also underwent electrocardiographic and echocardiographic examinations. All findings compared between patients with or without bendopnea.

A total of 120 patients with a mean age of 65.19 ± 12.62 years were evaluated, and 74.8% were men. Bendopnea was observed in 44.2% of the patients. The etiology of HF was ischemic in most patients (81.9%), and the functional class of most patients (85.9%) was III or IV. The mortality rate at 6 months follow-up was comparable between patients with or without bendopnea (6% vs. 9.5%, p=0.507). The waist circumference (odds ratio [OR] 1.037, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.005 – 1.070, p = 0.023), paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (OR 0.338, 95% CI 0.132 – 0.866, p = 0.024), and right atrium size (OR 1.084, 95% CI 1.002 – 1.172, p = 0.044) were associated with bendopnea.

Bendopnea can be frequently found among patients with systolic HF. This phenomenon is associated with obesity and baseline symptoms of patients and right atrium size upon echocardiographic examinations. It can help clinicians with the risk stratification of HF patients.