Background: We sought to noninvasively investigate skin microcirculation and to assess the relation between parameters of microcirculation and echocardiographic and biochemical parameters of left ventricular (LV) function in non-diabetic patients with heart failure (HF).
Methods and Results: We measured skin microcirculation with laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) at basal conditions (MFb), after warming to 44 degrees Centigrade (MF44) and after occlusion (AUC, PF%). Blood was sampled for NT-proBNP. We obtained information on patients’ medical history and medication status. The mean (SD) age of 100 patients (43 women) was 68.2 ± 11.5 years. LV ejection fraction (LVEF) averaged 34.9 ± 13.3%, LV end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) 6.0 ± 0.9 cm, NT-proBNP 4,582.6 ± 6,339.7 pg/mL. The parameters of microcirculation averaged: MFb 6.2 ± 4.7 perfusion units (PU), PF% 716.0 ± 437.8%, AUC 794 ± 706.1 PU/s, and MF44 77.9 ± 40.2 PU. NT-proBNP correlated negatively with LVEF (p £ 0.0001) and positively with LVEDD (p = 0.003). MFb was positively correlated with LVEF (r = 0.24, p = 0.03), and MF44 was negatively correlated with LVEDD (r = 0.22, p = 0.02). The relations remained significant after adjustments for sex, age, and use of medication. We observed no relation between NT-proBNP and microcirculatory derangement.
Conclusions: LDF-derived parameters of skin microcirculation are related to echocardiographic, but not biochemical, indices of HF. (Cardiol J 2011; 18, 3: 270–276)