Exploring the Association Between Echocardiographic Parameters and Routine Laboratory Parameters of Heart Failure Patients in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Echocardiography is a crucial tool in the diagnosis of heart failure. At the same time, routine laboratory parameter results reflect changes associated with heart failure. This study investigated the association between routine laboratory parameters and echocardiographic parameters in heart failure patients in Abakaliki, Nigeria. Two hundred and fifty patients diagnosed with heart failure who underwent concurrent clinical evaluation, laboratory testing, and transthoracic echocardiography were enrolled in this study. The data generated were analysed using Python 3.12 and associated libraries to determine Spearman's correlation, multivariate linear regression, and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Cystatin C correlated positively with LVEF (ρ = 0.271) and negatively with LVEDD (ρ = –0.242). MPV and INR proved to be associated with both left ventricular ejection fraction and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter. The results revealed a strong association between MCV and MCHC with ventricular size in patients with HFrEF, while in HFpEF, sodium, chloride, and monocyte count correlated with diastolic function. ROC analysis revealed that MPV (AUC = 0.69), INR (AUC = 0.62), and cystatin C (AUC = 0.60) were the most effective laboratory tests in distinguishing heart failure phenotypes. These results demonstrate that routine laboratory parameters can still provide valuable information for assessing heart failure when echocardiography is unavailable.