Reduced in vivo skeletal muscle oxygen consumption in patients with chronic heart failure--a study using Near Infrared Spectrophotometry (NIRS)

AIM: We used Near Infrared Spectrophotometry (NIRS) during arterial occlusion to measure resting skeletal muscle oxygen consumption in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients and in age-matched healthy volunteers (HVs). METHODS: Fifteen CHF patients (ten males) and eleven HVs (six males) had echocardiographic evaluation followed by measurement of the oxygen consumption of the brachioradialis muscle using NIRS. This involved continuous measurement of the oxygenated haemoglobin concentration ([Oxy-Hb]) and deoxy-haemoglobin concentration ([Deoxy-Hb]) with an Oxiplex TS NIRS probe first under basal overnight fasted resting conditions followed by 1 min of forearm arterial occlusion. A linear decline was observed in [Oxy-Hb-Deoxy-Hb] during the arterial occlusion and the oxygen consumption rate was calculated from the initial slope observed. RESULTS: CHF patients were 59+/-2.8 years old with Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF) 31%+/-2.2 and the HVs were 52+/-4.8 years old with LVEF 62%+/-2.5. The resting muscle oxygen consumption rate was significantly reduced in CHF patients versus HVs (0.04+/-0.01 mlO(2)/min/100 g versus 0.07+/-0.01 mlO(2)/min/100 g) p<0.005. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant reduction in resting oxygen consumption per gram of tissue in skeletal muscle of patients with CHF.