Observational studyClinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society2020
Ultrasound indices of congestion in patients with acute heart failure according to body mass index.
Observational study in Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- The intersection of obesity and acute heart failure: cardiac structure and function and congestion across BMI categories.European heart journal. Acute cardiovascular care · 2025Article
- Imaging of Congestion in Cardio-renal Syndrome.Current heart failure reports · 2025Review
- Integrative assessment of congestion in heart failure using ultrasound imaging.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Review
- The Role of Lung Ultrasound Scan in Different Heart Failure Scenarios: Current Applications and Lacks of Evidences.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The assessment, interpretation and implementation of lung ultrasound examinations in Heart Failure: Current evidence and gaps in knowledge.European journal of internal medicine · 2024Review
- Lung ultrasound in acute and chronic heart failure: a clinical consensus statement of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI).European heart journal. Cardiovascular Imaging · 2023Article
- Inferior vena cava diameter and risk of acute decompensated heart failure rehospitalisations.Open heart · 2023Article
- Defining Heart Failure Based on Imaging the Heart and Beyond.Cardiac failure review · 2023Review
- How and When to Use Lung Ultrasound in Patients with Heart Failure?Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Review
- Lung Congestion Severity in Kidney Transplant Recipients Is Not Affected by Arteriovenous Fistula Function.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Lung ultrasound in outpatients with heart failure: the wet-to-dry HF study.ESC heart failure · 2021Article
- Intensification of pharmacological decongestion but not the actual daily loop diuretic dose predicts worse chronic heart failure outcome: insights from TIME-CHF.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2021Article
- Pulmonary Congestion Assessment in Heart Failure: Traditional and New Tools.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Ultrasound imaging of congestion in heart failure: examinations beyond the heart.European journal of heart failure · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe inverse relationship between body mass index (BMI) and natriuretic peptide levels complicates the diagnosis of heart failure (HF) in obese patients. Assessment of congestion with ultrasound could facilitate HF diagnosis but it is unclear if any relationship exists amongst BMI, inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter and the number of B-lines.
methodsWe performed a comprehensive echocardiographic evaluation within 24 h from hospital admission in patients with HF, including lung B-lines and IVC diameter, and studied their relationship with BMI and outcome.
results216 patients (median age 81 (77-86) years) were enrolled. Median number of B-lines was 31 (IQR 26-38), median IVC diameter was 23 (22-25) mm and median BNP 991 (727-1601) pg/mL. BMI was inversely correlated with B-lines (r = - 0.50, p < 0.001), but not with IVC diameter (r = - 0.04, p = 0.58). Compared to overweight patients (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2; n = 100) or with a normal BMI (BMI < 25 kg/m2; n = 59), obese patients (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2; n = 57) had lower B-lines [28 (24-33) vs 30 (26-35), and vs 38 (32-42), respectively; p < 0.001] but similar IVC diameter. During the first 60 days of follow-up, there were 53 primary events: 29 patients died and 24 had a HF-related hospitalisation. B-lines and IVC diameter were independently associated with an increased risk. However, B-lines were less likely to predict outcome in the subgroup of patients with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m
conclusionsAssessment of IVC diameter or B-lines in patients admitted with AHF identifies those at greater risk of death or HF readmission. However, assessment of B-lines might be influenced by BMI.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.