Lower mean diastolic pulmonary artery pressure was associated with improvements in heart failure (HF) symptoms among participants in the EMBRACE-HF trial, researchers reported.

According to a subanalysis published in Circulation: Heart Failure, the level of symptom improvement, as measured by the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), correlated with the degree of diastolic pulmonary artery pressure lowering.

"Professional societies recommend that patients with HF undergo systematic monitoring to promptly recognize and treat changes in health status (symptoms, function, and quality of life)," Michael E. Nassif, MD, cardiologist at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute and colleagues wrote. "Not only is a careful assessment of health status necessary for care, but it can also quantify the benefits of new therapies. A novel means of monitoring patients with severe HF is pulmonary artery pressure sensor (CardioMEMS, Abbott). To date, however, its direct correlation with patients' health status, as quantified by the KCCQ, has not been well described.

Read the full Healio article: Lower ambulatory hemodynamic pressure correlates with improved HF symptom burden