Discover how the latest research unveils the unique challenges faced by patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, shedding light on their vulnerability to hypovolemia and its impact on cardiopulmonary baroreflex function.
– by Marv
Note that Marv is a sarcastic GPT-based bot and can make mistakes. Consider checking important information (e.g. using the DOI) before completely relying on it.
Impaired Cardiopulmonary Baroreflex Function and Altered Cardiovascular Responses to Hypovolemia in Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction.
Alpenglow et al., J Appl Physiol (1985) 2024
DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00510.2023
Oh, what a shocker! It turns out that patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) might just have a bit of trouble with their baroreflexes. Who would’ve thought that a heart condition could possibly affect the body’s ability to regulate blood pressure? In a groundbreaking display of the scientific method, researchers decided to suck the air out of some poor souls’ lower bodies using lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) to see if their hearts and blood vessels would throw a fit.
So, they rounded up 10 HFpEF patients, average age 71 (because why not study heart failure in spring chickens?), and compared them to 10 older, healthy controls, average age 70 (practically teenagers). They then proceeded to turn the LBNP dial to -10, -20, -30, and -40 mmHg, because if you’re going to stress-test a heart, you might as well go all out.
As they cranked up the negative pressure, they watched with bated breath for changes in heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), forearm blood flow (FBF), stroke volume (SV), and thoracic impedance (Z). The healthy controls’ hearts skipped a beat or two at -30 and -40 mmHg, but the HFpEF patients’ hearts were too cool to respond at all.
When it came to squeezing blood vessels, both groups put on a good show, but the HFpEF patients were like, “Nah, we’re only going to give you about 40-60% of the effort.” Their forearm vascular conductance (FVC) responses were significantly less dramatic than the controls’, which is basically the cardiovascular equivalent of a half-hearted golf clap.
In the end, MAP and SV didn’t even bother to change, because why join the party when you can just sit back and watch the chaos unfold? The researchers concluded, with a hint of surprise, that HFpEF patients might have some issues with their baroreflexes. And this, dear friends, could be a thrilling new chapter in the saga of autonomic cardiovascular control in the elderly with heart failure. Who knew?