Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:Latent left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) is an important cause of symptoms in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) but can be challenging to provoke. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS/OBJECTIVE:To examine the value of postprandial resting and stress echocardiography and utilization of invasive or enhanced drug therapies (surgical myectomy, alcohol septal ablation, disopyramide, and mavacamten) in patients with postprandial LVOTO. Consecutive HCM patients without LVOTO underwent routine and postprandial echocardiography at rest, with provocation (Valsalva and standing) and after symptom-limited treadmill stress. RESULTS:Among 252 patients (mean age, 58 years, 39% women), postprandial LVOT gradients were higher compared with routine echocardiography at rest (median, 9.0 [0-38.0] vs 0 [0-14.0] mm Hg; P < .0001) and with provocation (18.5 [0-70.3] vs 1.5 [0-41.0] mm Hg; P < .0001). Postprandial exercise stress echocardiogram (PPXSE) gradients were higher in a subset of 44 patients who underwent both postprandial and fasting stress echocardiography (47.0 [5.3-81.0] vs 17.5 [0-46.0] mm Hg; P < .0001). In total, 49 (19.5%) patients achieved the ≥50 mm Hg threshold under routine conditions (rest/provocation); 90 (35.7%) additional patients achieved postprandial gradients ≥50 mm Hg (rest/provocation/exercise), 38 (15.1%) with PPXSE alone. A total of 71 patients were treated with 91 invasive or enhanced drug therapies, 32 (45.1%) of whom had gradients ≥50 mm Hg only after eating (rest/provocation) and 8 (11.3%) only with PPXSE, with symptom relief in the majority. CONCLUSIONS:Postprandial echocardiography was useful at unmasking LVOTO in more than one-third of patients who did not have high gradients otherwise. Eating before echocardiography is a powerful provocative tool in the evaluation of patients with HCM.

INTRODUCTION/UNASSIGNED:Hypertension affects approximately 50 % of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) but clinical course in adults with co-occurring HCM and hypertension is underexplored. Management may be challenging as routine anti-hypertensive medications may worsen obstructive HCM, the most common HCM phenotype. In this scoping review, we sought to synthesize the available literature related to clinical course and outcomes in adults with both conditions and to highlight knowledge gaps to inform future research directions. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:We searched 5 electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science) to identify peer-reviewed articles, 2011-2023. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guideline. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:Eleven articles met eligibility. Adults with both conditions were older and had higher rates of obesity and diabetes than adults with HCM alone. Results related to functional class and arrhythmia were equivocal in cross-sectional studies. Only 1 article investigated changes in medical therapy among adults with both conditions. Hypertension was a predictor of worse functional class, but was not associated with all-cause mortality, heart failure-related mortality, or sudden-death. No data was found that related to common hypertension-related outcomes, including renal disease progression, nor patient-reported outcomes, including quality of life. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:Our results highlight areas for future research to improve understanding of co-occurring HCM and hypertension. These include a need for tailored approaches to medical management to optimize outcomes, evaluation of symptom burden and quality of life, and investigation of hypertension-related outcomes, like renal disease and ischemic stroke, to inform cardiovascular risk mitigation strategies.

INTRODUCTION:Hypertension affects 40%-60% of adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the most common inherited cardiac condition. It can be a diagnostic confounder for HCM, contributing to delayed diagnosis. Clinically, treatment of co-occurring hypertension and HCM poses challenges as first-line and second-line antihypertensive medications are often contraindicated in HCM. The clinical course in adults with hypertension and HCM is also not well understood, and studies examining patient outcomes in this population are equivocal. In this paper, we aim to outline the protocol of a scoping review, a type of literature review, to systematically synthesise existing knowledge on adults with co-occurring HCM and hypertension, highlighting knowledge and evidence gaps, and identifying future research directions to optimise outcomes in this population. METHODS AND ANALYSIS:This review is guided by Arksey and O'Malley's conceptual framework on conducting scoping reviews. We will search five electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science) and reference lists of publications to identify eligible articles focusing on medical therapy, clinical course or outcomes in adults with HCM and hypertension, between 2011 and 2023. Our search strategy and presentation of results will be guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Scoping Review guideline. First, two independent reviewers will screen articles, by title and abstract, followed by a full-text screen to identify eligible articles. Relevant data will be extracted and synthesised. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION:Ethical approval is not required for this review as it is a secondary data collection of published articles and does not involve human subject participation. We will present results of this review at relevant professional conferences and patient-centred educational events. Results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER:https://osf.io/cy8qb/?view_only=98197f4850584e51807ff9b62533a706.

BACKGROUND:Black men in the United States have higher hypertension (HTN) prevalence than other groups, largely due to adverse social determinants of health, including poor healthcare access. The Community-to-Clinic Linkage Implementation Program (CLIP) is effective for HTN screening in Black-owned barbershops. However, its effect on HTN prevention among Black men is untested. Here, we describe the rationale and study protocol for the development and testing of a barbershop facilitation (BF) strategy, with trained Community Health Workers, to implement and scale CLIP for HTN prevention in Black men. METHODS:The study is part of the American Heart Association (AHA)-funded RESTORE (Addressing Social Determinants to Prevent Hypertension) Health Equity Research Network. The study is tri-phasic: (i) pre-implementation-qualitative examination of factors affecting adoption of CLIP and development of BF strategy, (ii) implementation-cluster randomized control trial to test the effectiveness of CLIP with and without BF. We will partner with 20 barbershops and enroll 420 Black men with elevated blood pressure (BP)/Stage 1 HTN (2017 ACC/AHA HTN guidelines). Outcomes include reduction in BP, rate of CLIP adoption and linkage to care, and incidence of Stage 2 HTN. The study time frame is 12 months, (iii) post-implementation-we will evaluate program sustainability (6 months post-trial conclusion) and cost-effectiveness (up to 10 years). CONCLUSIONS:This study harnesses community-based resources to address HTN prevention in Black men, who are more adversely impacted by HTN than other groups. It has major policy relevance for health departments and other stakeholders to address HTN prevention in Black communities. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER/BACKGROUND:NCT05447962.

Background Psychological well-being is important among individuals with myocardial infarction (MI) given the clear links between stress, depression, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Stress and depressive disorders are more prevalent in women than men after MI. Resilience may protect against stress and depressive disorders after a traumatic event. Longitudinal data are lacking in populations post MI. We examined the role of resilience in the psychological recovery of women post MI, over time. Methods and Results We analyzed a sample from a longitudinal observational multicenter study (United States, Canada) of women post MI, between 2016 and 2020. Perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale-4 [PSS-4]) and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-2 [PHQ-2]) were assessed at baseline (time of MI) and 2 months post MI. Demographics, clinical characteristics, and resilience (Brief Resilience Scale [BRS]) were collected at baseline. Low and normal/high resilience groups were established as per published cutoffs (BRS scores <3 or ≥3). Mixed-effects modeling was used to examine associations between resilience and psychological recovery over 2 months. The sample included 449 women, mean (SD) age, 62.2 (13.2) years, of whom 61.1% identified as non-Hispanic White, 18.5% as non-Hispanic Black, and 15.4% as Hispanic/Latina. Twenty-three percent had low resilience. The low resilience group had significantly higher PSS-4 and PHQ-2 scores than the normal/high resilience group at all time points. In adjusted models, both groups showed a decrease in PSS-4 scores over time. Conclusions In a diverse cohort of women post MI, higher resilience is associated with better psychological recovery over time. Future work should focus on developing strategies to strengthen resilience and improve psychological well-being for women with MI. Registration URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02905357; Unique identifier: NCT02905357.

BACKGROUND:Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common and clinically heterogeneous inherited cardiac disease. Quality of life (QOL) and physical functioning are important clinically but are underexplored in diverse populations with HCM. OBJECTIVES/OBJECTIVE:To examine predictors for and compare QOL and physical functioning in Black and White adults with HCM. METHODS:We analyzed a sub-sample from a longitudinal prospective study on HCM. Eligibility criteria included self-identified Black and White adults (≥18 years) with clinical HCM. QOL was measured with the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLWHF);physical functioning included age-adjusted exercise capacity and NYHA class. Covariates included HCM structural characteristics and common comorbidities. We analyzed data from 434 individuals, 57 (13.1%) of whom self-identified as Black/African American. RESULTS:In this sample, the Black cohort had higher MLWHF scores, 31.2 (27.2) v. 23.9 (22.1), p=0.042, signifying worse QOL, but there were no intergroup differences when QOL was dichotomized. Mean metabolic equivalents (METs) on symptom-limited stress testing were similar, though the Black cohort was younger, 54.6 (13.4) v.62.5 (14.8) years, p=0.001. No one from the Black cohort achieved an "excellent-for-age" exercise capacity, and 64.1% had a "below-average-for-age" exercise capacity vs 47% in the White cohort, though this was not statistically significant, p=0.058. There was no difference between groups in advanced NYHA class. Female gender was associated with worse QOL and physical functioning irrespective of covariates. CONCLUSIONS:This study is a starting point that underscores the need for a more comprehensive examination of well-being and physical functioning in Black populations with HCM.

AIMS/OBJECTIVE:Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of increased disability from work worldwide. Chronic stress including work-related stressors influences cardiovascular health. The purpose of this study was to assess stress levels amongst workers with CVD. The specific aims were to: (i) evaluate associations of the biological marker-hair cortisol concentration (HCC) with perceived stress and (ii) examine associations of HCC and perceived stress with sociodemographic factors and work-related factors. METHODS AND RESULTS/RESULTS:This cross-sectional descriptive study (n = 75) of employed adults (≥ 21 age) with CVD assessed perceived stress, work-related factors including workplace support, job control, job strain, and work-life balance using valid and reliable instruments. Hair cortisol concentration was measured using collected hair samples. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, correlational, and ANOVA analysis. The sample was 64% female; 80% are White, 8% African American, 4% Asian, and 8% Hispanic; mean 12 years with CVD diagnosis. Hair cortisol concentration was significantly correlated with workplace support by co-workers (r = -0.328, P = 0.012), supervisors (r = -0.260, P = 0.05), and skill discretion (-0.297, r = 0.047) but not perceived stress. Those with better work-life balance had lower HCC (F = 3.077, P = 0.054) and lower perceived stress (F = 10.320, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS:Although this sample of working adults with CVD reported high levels of perceived stress; only work-related factors were significantly associated with HCC. These results suggest that there are work-related stressors that cut across jobs and workplaces that may contribute to chronic stress in working adults. Healthcare providers across clinical and occupational settings have an important role in addressing work-related stress in working adults with CVD.