Structural and functional heart diseases in adult patients with common variable immunodeficiency

Abstract

Background: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is the primary immunodeficiency with the largest number of comorbidities in adulthood. It has been associated with bronchiectasis between 17%-76%, and these with the presence of cardiovascular complications such as pulmonary hypertension and heart failure. The new image methods of diagnosis, to assess the cardiovascular structural and functional conformation of adult patients with bronchiectasis, help to establish more efficient and timely diagnoses.

Objective: To define the presence of structural and functional heart disease in CVID patients by transthoracic echocardiography.

Material and method: A cross-sectional study was done in a cohort of 26 adult patients diagnosed with CVID and replacement therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), belonging to the Immunodeficiency Clinic. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography and tissue ECO doopler; the results were evaluated by a echocardiographer physician.

Results: We evaluated 26 patients, of whom 10 patients were male, with a mean age of 35.7 ± 13.7 years. The results of thoracic echocardiography of the left cardiac cavities found the following functional changes: 17 patients presented with mitral insufficiency and only 2 had aortic insufficiency, none symptoms. Regarding the structural alterations of the right cavities: 8 adults with CVID had right cavities growth and 5 of them, hypermobile atrial septum was reported; respect to functional alterations, 24 patients had tricuspid insufficiency; in 20 it was mild and only in 3 is was moderate. Up to 12 had pulmonary valve insufficiency, and 8 had pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); of which, in 2 it was mild and in one it was moderate; and 4 patients had PSAP in high limit values.

Conclusions: Patients with CVID, despite having a high incidence of bronchiectasis, had low incidence of PAH, but a significant number of patients had PSAP in high cutoff level, so, these patients should be monitored annually, because probably they will evolve to PAH in the future. Also, they have a high incidence of mild valvular regurgitation due to mild degenerative changes with valvular sclerosis, therefore, they also require regular monitoring.