Novel Approach Predicts Outcomes in Heart Failure Patients

They then followed these patients for a median of 4.7 years, recording any hospitalizations, heart transplantation, placement of a ventricular assist device and death from all causes.

The investigators looked at adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an energy source for heart muscle cells, and an energy reserve called creatine kinase (CK), an enzyme that interacts with ATP to keep the energy supply constant in a beating heart. They measured the rate of ATP synthesis through CK, called CK flux, using MRS (GE Healthcare Technologies, Pittsburgh, PA, USA). They found that measurements of CK flux were significantly lower in heart failure patients whose condition had worsened.

Gurusher Panjrath, MD, an assistant professor of medicine and co-lead author of the study said, “While various used methods are currently used for prediction, none of these methods are reflective of the underlying mechanism in the weak heart. Furthermore, some of these measures are not very consistent in their predictive ability. There is a need for newer methods, which could potentially be more specific and reproducible. By targeting impaired energy metabolism, it may also be possible in the future to develop and tailor therapies to this new target.” The study was published on December 11, 2013, in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

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Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
GE Healthcare Technologies