Abstract
BACKGROUND: In recent years, studies have indicated that vitamin D [25(OH)D(3)] and other calcium-phosphate (Ca-P) metabolism parameters and their disturbances might be potential new factors that may influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of our study was to assess the extent of Ca-P metabolism abnormalities in patients with significant mitral regurgitation (MR) and their effect on patients' HRQoL. METHODS: We included 99 patients with significant MR (median age, 75 years [Q1-Q3, 66.0-81.5], 35.4% females). Hemodynamically significant MR was assessed using transthoracic echocardiography (vena contracta > 3 mm, effective orifice area > 0.2 cm(2), and MR volume > 30 mL/s). HRQoL was evaluated using a cardiac-specific (MacNew) tool. RESULTS: A significant negative correlation between parathormone (PTH) levels and HRQoL was demonstrated (r = - 0.242, - 0.243, and - 0.255; p = 0.018, 0.018, and 0.013 for Global Scores, and physical and social domains, respectively). Additionally, we confirmed that patients with higher NT-proBNP levels, NYHA heart failure (HF) class, and larger left ventricles had poorer HRQoL. Moreover, patients with poorer HRQoL walked a shorter distance in a 6-min walking test. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first to show that Ca-P abnormalities resulted in significantly worse HRQoL, especially in the physical domain, in a population of patients with hemodynamically significant MR.