Abstract: Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of echocardiography parameters in the elderly patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Methods A total of 76 HFpEF patients admitted to the Geriatric Cardiology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University from November 2019 to January 2021 were selected as observation group and 54 patients without heart failure as control group. General data,N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP) level and conventional biochemical index results of all the patients were collected, and the echocardiography parameters detection was performed. Results The incidence of atrial fibrillation, diuretic use and the level of NT-proBNP in HFpEF group were significantly higher than those in control group (P<0.01).The levels of left atrium diameter(LAD),left ventricular diameter(LVD), left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), left atrial volume index(LAVI) and tricuspid regurgitation velocity(TRV), and the ratio of peak transmitral flow velocities of early to late in diastole (E/A) and transmitral flow velocities to mitral annulus tissue velocities in early diastole (E/e′) in HFpEF group were higher than those in control group(P<0.01). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under curve (AUC) of HFpEF diagnosed by LAVI was 0.976, which was higher than E/e′, NT-proBNP and TRV. When the cut-off value of LAVI was 31.43 mL/m², the sensitivity and specificity was 0.98 and 0.89 respectively. Spearman correlation analysis showed that LAVI was positively correlated with LAD, E/A, E/e′, TRV and NT-proBNP, but not significantly correlated with age and systolic blood pressure. Conclusions LAVI has a greater guiding significance for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of elderly patients with HFpEF.

Key words: aged, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, echocardiography, N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide