Ostadal P, et al. - Researchers focused on the link between arterial dP/dt_max and left ventricular (LV) dP/dt_max evaluated using echocardiography in patients with acute heart failure. For this study, they recruited 48 patients (mean age 70.4 years [65% male]) with acute heart failure needing intensive care and hemodynamic monitoring. They used arterial line pressure waveform analysis to continually monitor hemodynamic variables, including arterial dP/dt_max. They evaluated LV dP/dt_max via continuous-wave Doppler analysis of mitral regurgitation flow. According to the findings, monitoring of LV contractility may be done by continuous calculation of arterial dP/dt_max in patients with acute heart failure needing intensive care with an arterial line, this may be used particularly in those with higher systemic vascular resistance (SVR), lower cardiac output (CO), and lower stroke volume (SV), such as in patients with cardiogenic shock. In the subgroups with higher CO, higher SV, and lower SVR, findings revealed only a weak or no significant correlation.