Abstract MP035: The Clinical Epidemiology of Fatigue in Newly Diagnosed Heart Failure

Introduction: Fatigue is a common and distressing, but poorly understood symptom among patients with heart failure (HF). The underlying mechanisms of fatigue in HF have not been clearly elucidated, but may lie in both psychologic and physiologic factors. Whether fatigue remains associated with mortality independent of other common clinical attributes also remains unresolved. Accordingly, the current study sought to evaluate the prevalence, predictors, and prognostic value of clinically documented fatigue in newly diagnosed HF patients. Methods: This retrospective cohort study consisted of 12,285 newly diagnosed HF patients receiving health care services through the Geisinger Health System, with passive data collection through electronic medical records (EMR). Incident HF, fatigue, and other study variables were derived from coded data within EMRs. A collection of 87 candidate predictors were evaluated to ascertain the strongest independent predictors of fatigue using logistic regression. The collection of candidate variables was drawn from several domains including demographics, physical examination findings, medical history, laboratory results, and medications. Patients were followed for all-cause mortality for an average of 4.8 years. The associations between fatigue and six-month, 12-month, and overall mortality were evaluated with Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: Clinically documented fatigue was found in 4827 (39%) newly diagnosed HF patients. Among the 87 candidate predictors, 18 were independently associated with fatigue at a multivariable p-value threshold of 0.001. Depression was the strongest predictor of fatigue. Fatigue was often part of a symptom cluster, as other HF symptoms including dyspnea, chest pain, edema, syncope, and palpitations were significant predictors of fatigue. Volume depletion, low body mass index, and abnormal weight loss were also strong predictors of fatigue. Though fatigue was significantly associated with 6-month (HR=1.49, p<0.01), 12-month (HR=1.39, p<0.01), and all-cause mortality (HR=1.20, p<0.01) in unadjusted models, effect sizes were attenuated and non-significant after adjustment for clinical variables with HRs of 1.12 (p=0.16), 1.07 (p=0.26), and 1.00 (p=0.89), for 6-month, 12-month, and overall mortality, respectively. Conclusions: Fatigue is a commonly documented symptom among newly diagnosed HF patients with likely origins in both psychologic and physiologic factors. Though fatigue provided a prognostic signal in the short-term, this was largely explained by physiologic confounders.

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Smokeless tobacco, snus, at admission for percutaneous coronary intervention and future risk for cardiac events

Open Heart ◽

10.1136/openhrt-2019-001109 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. e001109

Author(s):

Ole Frobert ◽

Christian Reitan ◽

Dorothy K Hatsukami ◽

John Pernow ◽

Elmir Omerovic ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ◽

Smokeless Tobacco ◽

Proportional Hazards ◽

Coronary Intervention ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

P Value ◽

Cardiac Events ◽

Percutaneous Coronary ◽

All Cause Mortality

ObjectiveTo assess the risk of future death and cardiac events following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients using smokeless tobacco, snus, compared with patients not using snus at admission for a first PCI.MethodsThe Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry is a prospective registry on coronary diagnostic procedures and interventions. A total of 74 958 patients admitted for a first PCI were enrolled between 2009 and 2018, 6790 snus users and 68 168 not using snus. We used Cox proportional hazards regression for statistical modelling on imputed datasets as well as complete-case datasets.ResultsPatients using snus were younger (mean (SD) age 61.0 (±10.2) years) than patients not using snus (67.6 (±11.1), p<0.001) and more often male (95.4% vs 67.4%, p<0.001). After multivariable adjustment, snus use was not associated with the primary composite outcome of all-cause mortality, new coronary revascularisation or new hospitalisation for heart failure at 1 year (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.91 to 1.05). In patients using snus at baseline who underwent a second PCI (n=1443), the duration from the index intervention was shorter for subjects who continued using snus (n=921, 63.8%) compared with subjects who had stopped (mean number of days 285 vs 406, p value=0.001).ConclusionsSnus use at admission for a first PCI was not associated with a higher occurrence of all-cause mortality, new revascularisation or heart failure hospitalisation. Discontinuing snus after a first PCI was associated with a significantly longer duration to a subsequent PCI.

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Abstract 282: Impact of a Multi-Disciplinary Heart Failure Post-Discharge Management Clinic on Heart Failure Readmission Rates

Circulation Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes ◽

10.1161/circoutcomes.6.suppl_1.a282 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Cynthia Jackevicius ◽

Noelle de Leon ◽

Lingyun Lu ◽

Donald Chang ◽

Alberta Warner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Proportional Hazards ◽

Proportional Hazards Model ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards Model ◽

Control Group ◽

Post Discharge ◽

Readmission Rates ◽

All Cause Mortality ◽

Clinic Group

Background: Specialized heart failure (HF) clinics have demonstrated significant reduction in readmission rates. We evaluated a new multi-disciplinary HF clinic focused specifically on those recently discharged from a HF hospitalization. Methods: In this retrospective, cohort study, patients discharged with a primary HF diagnosis who attended the HF post-discharge clinic in 2010-11 were compared with historical controls from 2009. Within an average of six clinic visits, patients were seen by a physician assistant, a clinical pharmacist and a nurse case manager, with care overseen by an attending cardiologist. The clinic focused on identification of HF etiology and precipitating factors, medication titration to target doses, patient education, and medication adherence. The primary outcome was 90-day HF readmission, with secondary outcomes of mortality and a composite of 90-day HF readmission and mortality. A Cox proportional hazards model with adjustment for potentially confounding demographic and comorbidity variables was constructed to compare outcomes between groups. Results: Among the 277 patients (144 clinic and 133 control) in the study, 7.6% of patients in the clinic group and 23.3% of patients in the control group were readmitted for HF within 90 days (aHR 0.26; 95%CI=0.13-0.53 p = 0.0003;aRRR=74%; 95%CI= 47%-87%; ARR=15.7%;NNT=7). There were few deaths, but adjusted all-cause mortality was lower in the clinic group. For the composite of 90-day HF readmission and mortality, clinic patients had a lower risk (9.0% vs 28.6%; aHR 0.23; 95%CI=0.12-0.45; p<0.0001; aRRR=77%; 95%CI=55%-88%;ARR=19.6%;NNT=6). Conclusion: The multidisciplinary HF post-discharge clinic was associated with a significant reduction in 90-day HF readmission rates and all-cause mortality.

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Increased Plasma Concentrations of Soluble ST2 are Predictive for 1-Year Mortality in Patients with Acute Destabilized Heart Failure

Clinical Chemistry ◽

10.1373/clinchem.2007.096560 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 752-756 ◽

Cited By ~ 114

Author(s):

Thomas Mueller ◽

Benjamin Dieplinger ◽

Alfons Gegenhuber ◽

Werner Poelz ◽

Richard Pacher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Plasma Concentration ◽

Proportional Hazards ◽

Interleukin 1 ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Plasma Concentrations ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Care Hospital ◽

Increased Risk ◽

All Cause Mortality

Abstract Background: The soluble isoform of the interleukin-1 receptor family member ST2 (sST2) has been implicated in heart failure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the capability of sST2 as a prognostic marker in patients with acute destabilized heart failure. Methods: sST2 plasma concentrations were obtained in 137 patients with acute destabilized heart failure attending the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital. The endpoint was defined as all-cause mortality, and the study participants were followed up for 365 days. Results: Of the 137 patients enrolled, 41 died and 96 survived during follow-up. At baseline the median sST2 plasma concentration was significantly higher in the patients who died than in those who survived (870 vs 342 ng/L, P <0.001). Kaplan-Meier curve analyses demonstrated that the risk ratios for mortality were 2.45 (95% CI, 0.88–6.31; P = 0.086) and 6.63 (95% CI, 2.55–10.89; P <0.001) in the second tercile (sST2, 300–700 ng/L; 11 deaths vs 34 survivors) and third tercile (sST2, >700 ng/L; 25 deaths vs 21 survivors) of sST2 plasma concentrations compared with the first tercile (sST2, ≤300 ng/L; 5 deaths vs 41 survivors). In multivariable Cox proportional-hazards regression analyses, an sST2 plasma concentration in the upper tercile was a strong and independent predictor of all-cause mortality. Conclusions: Increased sST2 concentrations determined in plasma samples drawn from patients with acute destabilized heart failure at their initial presentation indicate increased risk of future mortality. Increased sST2 plasma concentrations are independently and strongly associated with one-year all-cause mortality in these patients.

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FC 080VARIABILITY IN SERUM PHOSPHATE ASSESSED BY DIRECTIONAL CHANGE IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED MORTALITY

Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation ◽

10.1093/ndt/gfab123.005 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 36 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

Xiaoling (Janice) Ye ◽

Karlien Ter Meulen ◽

Len A Usvyat ◽

Frank Van Der Sande ◽

Constantijn Konings ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Proportional Hazards ◽

Smoothing Splines ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Serum Phosphate ◽

P Value ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards Models ◽

Increased Risk ◽

All Cause Mortality ◽

Directional Change ◽

Wide Variability

Abstract Background and Aims Prior studies showed that there is a wide variability between serial pre-dialysis measurements of serum phosphate (P). Serum P vary can be due to changes in nutritional intake, underlying bone disorders, medication use or inflammation. Various variability markers have been investigated to study the association between P variability and its association with outcomes, however, the directional trends have not been studied in depth. We aimed to study directional changes and investigated its association with outcomes. Method All adult incident HD patients treated in Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) clinics between 01/2010 and 10/2018 were included in this retrospective cohort study. Serum P levels were averaged from month 1 to 6 after the initiation of dialysis (baseline). Baseline absolute and directional range (DR) of serum P were calculated. DR of P was calculated as: P min/max (t2) – P max/min (t1), with P (t1) and P (t2) represents the timepoint when either the min P value or max P value was measured, whichever comes first, and with t2 happened after t1. It is positive when the minimum antedates the maximum, otherwise negative. All-cause mortality was recorded between months 7 and 18. Cox proportional hazards models with spline terms were applied to explore the association between absolute and DR of P and all-cause mortality. Additionally, tensor product smoothing splines were computed to study the interactions of P with absolute P and DR of P and their joint associations with outcomes, respectably. Results We studied 353,142 patients. The average age was 62.7 years, 58% were male, 64% were diabetic. Baseline P was 4.98 mg/dL, median absolute range was 2.40 mg/dL, median DR was 1.1 mg/dL. Across different levels of P, both higher levels of absolute range and DR of P were associated with higher risk of mortality (Figure 1, Figure 2). The associations even seemed stronger in patients with lower levels of serum P and with negative DR (Figure 1). Conclusion Lower levels of serum P are independently associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality. Whereas both a positive and negative DR of P are in general associated with increased mortality, the effects of an increase are most predominant in patients with higher levels of serum P, whereas a negative directional range are most predominant in patients with low serum P. This could be explained by the fact that patients with lower levels of P are generally malnourished or inflamed, where a further reduction indicates nutritional deterioration.

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Abstract 14546: Left Ventricular Sphericity Index as a Predictor of Appropriate Implantable Cardioverter-defibrillator Therapy

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.142.suppl_3.14546 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽

Author(s):

Rahul Myadam ◽

Jason D'Souza ◽

Kensey Gosch ◽

Daniel Steinhaus

Keyword(s):

Primary Prevention ◽

Proportional Hazards ◽

Wall Stress ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

P Value ◽

Inappropriate Therapy ◽

Sphericity Index ◽

All Cause Mortality ◽

Appropriate Therapy

Introduction: We assessed the hypothesis that markers of LV wall stress, such as LV sphericity index (SI), may predict appropriate therapy for ventricular arrhythmias (VA) in patients with primary prevention defibrillators, independent of LV ejection fraction. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients with new ICD or CRT-D placement for primary prevention at a single hospital from 01/01/2015 to 06/30/2018. TTE images were used for calculating LV SI, which was defined as the ratio of bi-plane LV end-diastolic volume to the volume of a hypothetical sphere with a diameter of LV end-diastolic length in apical 4-chamber view. Device interrogations were reviewed for appropriate therapy for VA and inappropriate therapy for non-VAs. Kaplan-Meier curves stratified by LV SI tertile were constructed, and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate time to appropriate and inappropriate therapy, and all-cause mortality. Results: A total of 282 patients (ICD 154, CRT-D 128) were included. Baseline characteristics are described in the Table. We found a trend towards increased appropriate therapy as LV SI increased in the ICD but not the CRT-D group, but this was non-significant in both (ICD log-rank 0.63, p-value 0.73; CRT-D log-rank 0.07, p-value 0.96). There was no correlation between LV SI and time to all-cause mortality in the ICD (log-rank 0.53, p-value 0.76) or the CRT-D patients (log-rank 0.51, p-value 0.77). LV SI correlated significantly with time to inappropriate therapy in the ICD (log-rank 8.6, p-value 0.01), but not the CRT-D patients (log-rank 2.4, p-value 0.3). Conclusions: LV SI demonstrated a non-significant trend towards increased appropriate device therapy in the ICD but not the CRT-D group. LV SI predicted inappropriate therapy in the ICD but not the CRT-D group. Study power was limited by lower than expected event rates, possibly due to changes in device programming and improvements in heart failure therapies over time.

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The association of digoxin with mortality in ischemic heart failure: a secondary analysis of the STICH trial

European Heart Journal ◽

10.1093/ehjci/ehaa946.0882 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽

Author(s):

L Pandya ◽

D.L Brown

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Medical Therapy ◽

Proportional Hazards ◽

Cardiovascular Death ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Ischemic Heart ◽

Ischemic Heart Failure ◽

Increased Risk ◽

All Cause Mortality

Abstract Background Digoxin, one of the first treatments for symptoms of congestive heart failure (CHF), is currently used in the management of persistent CHF symptoms as well as for ventricular rate control in atrial fibrillation. Current guidelines suggest digoxin as an adjunct to optimal medical therapy for symptomatic improvement in CHF. However, the data regarding the effect of digoxin use on mortality continue to be conflicting. Purpose The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the association of digoxin therapy with mortality in patients with ischemic heart failure defined by severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and coronary artery disease (CAD) in the Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) trial. Methods STICH randomized 1012 patients with CAD and LV ejection fraction<35% to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and medical therapy vs. medical therapy alone. Factors predictive of digoxin use were identified with a binomial logistic regression model. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards modelling was performed with digoxin use modelled as a segmented time-dependent covariate. The model was adjusted for baseline clinical characteristics (including age, race, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular disease, NYHA heart failure class, previous myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, creatinine level, smoking status, and STICH treatment group) and stratified based on sex. All covariates were verified to meet the proportional hazards assumption. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included death and hospitalization due to cardiovascular causes. Relative risks were expressed as adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Of the 1012 patients, 351 (35% [36% of male patients and 27% of female patients]) reported digoxin use for some duration during the study period. Significant predictors of digoxin use included minority status, NYHA class, previous myocardial infarction, and baseline diagnosis of hypertension, diabetes, or atrial fibrillation. At a mean follow-up of 9.8 years, 566 patients (55.7%) experienced all-cause mortality and 387 patients (38.1%) died due to cardiovascular causes. The adjusted Cox proportional hazards model demonstrated that digoxin use was independently associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (aHR 1.22, 95% CI: 1.00–1.49, P=0.049). Digoxin use was also associated with increased risk of cardiovascular death (aHR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.02–1.64, P=0.032). There was no impact of digoxin on hospitalization for cardiovascular causes. Conclusion Use of digoxin in patients with ischemic heart failure was associated with an increased risk of both all-cause and cardiovascular death. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

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Natriuretic peptides predict future heart failure and cardiovascular death in an unselected population of patients presenting to hospital: interactions with atrial fibrillation

European Heart Journal ◽

10.1093/eurheartj/ehab724.0479 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 42 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

P Brady ◽

W Chua ◽

F Nehaj ◽

D Connolly ◽

A Khashaba ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Natriuretic Peptides ◽

Proportional Hazards ◽

Cardiovascular Death ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Sensitivity Analyses ◽

P Value ◽

Composite Outcome ◽

C Statistic

Abstract Aims Natriuretic peptides are routinely quantified to diagnose heart failure (HF). Their concentrations are also elevated in atrial fibrillation (AF). To clarify their interpretation, we measured natriuretic peptides in unselected patients with cardiovascular conditions and related their concentrations to AF and HF status and to outcomes. Methods and results Consecutive patients with cardiovascular conditions presenting to a large teaching hospital (median age 70 [IQR 60–78] years, 40% women) underwent clinical assessment, 7-day ECG-monitoring, and echocardiography to diagnose AF and HF. N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) was centrally quantified. Clinical characteristics and NT-proBNP concentrations were related to HF hospitalization or cardiovascular death. Follow-up data was available in 1611/1616 patients (99.7%) and analysis performed at 2.5 years. Based on a literature review, four NT-proBNP groups were defined (<300pg/ml, 300–999pg/ml, 1000–1999pg/ml and ≥2000pg/ml). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis of the composite outcome against AF and HF phenotype groups. This was adjusted for confounding factors including age, sex, race, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, severe valvular heart disease, left bundle branch block, hyponatraemia, urea, haemoglobin, estimated glomerular filtration rate, NT-proBNP, medical treatment with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers, diuretic (thiazide or loop diuretics), and anticoagulants (novel oral anticoagulant or vitamin K antagonist). Cox proportional hazards analysis adjusted for confounding variables for the composite outcome against baseline NT-proBNP concentration ranges was also performed in each patient group based on AF and HF status. HF hospitalization or cardiovascular death increased from patients with neither AF nor HF (36/488, 3.2/100 person-years), to 55/353 (7.1/100 person-years) in patients with AF only, 91/366 (12.1/100 person-years) in patients with HF only, and, 128/404 (17.7/100 person-years) in patients with AF plus HF (p<0.001). Higher NT-proBNP concentrations predicted the outcome in patients with AF only (C-statistic 0.82 [95% CI 0.77 to 0.86], p-value<0.001) and in other phenotype groups (C statistic in AF plus HF 0.66 [95% CI 0.61 to 0.70], p-value<0.001)). Sensitivity analyses confirmed these findings. Conclusion Elevated NT-proBNP concentrations predict future HF events in patients with AF irrespective of the presence of HF. In line with previous studies in HF, an NT-proBNP threshold of 1000 pg/ml is useful to identify high-risk patients with AF whether or not they are diagnosed with HF at the time of assessment. Pending external validation, these findings encourage the routine quantification of NT-proBNP in the initial assessment of patients with AF. FUNDunding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – EU funding. Main funding source(s): 1) This study was partially supported by European Union BigData@Heart and 2) CATCH ME (Characterising Afib by Translating its Causes into Health Modifiers in the Elderly)

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Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index Is a Simple Predictor of Mortality in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients

Blood Purification ◽

10.1159/000381798 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 281-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Mizuki Komatsu ◽

Masayuki Okazaki ◽

Ken Tsuchiya ◽

Hiroshi Kawaguchi ◽

Kosaku Nitta

Keyword(s):

Proportional Hazards ◽

Risk Index ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Nutritional Risk ◽

Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index ◽

Kaplan Meier ◽

Nutritional Risk Index ◽

All Cause Mortality ◽

Overall Mortality

Background: Malnutrition is common in hemodialysis (HD) patients, and it is associated with increasing risk of mortality. The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) has been developed as a tool to assess the nutritional risk. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability of the GNRI as a mortality predictor in a Japanese HD cohort. Methods: We prospectively examined the GNRI of 332 maintenance HD patients aged 65.4 ± 13.2, 213 males, and followed up on them for 36 months. The patients were divided into quartiles (Q) according to GNRI values (Q1: <91.6, Q2: 91.7-97.0, Q3: 97.1-102.2, Q4: >102.3). Predictors for all-cause mortality were examined using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional-hazards analyses. Results: The GNRI presented a normal distribution. During the follow-up period of 36 months, 76 patients died. The overall mortality at the end of the 3-year observational period was 22.3%. At the 3-year follow-up period, Kaplan-Meier survival rates for all-cause mortality were 72.3, 79.3, 84.9 and 92.6% in Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, respectively (p = 0.0067). Multivariate Cox proportional-hazards analysis demonstrated that the GNRI was a significant predictor of adjusted all-cause mortality (HR 0.958; 95% CI 0.929-0.989, p = 0.0073). Conclusions: The results of the present study demonstrate that the GNRI is a strong predictor of overall mortality in HD patients. However, cardiovascular mortality was not associated with GNRI values, and did not differ among the GNRI quartiles. The GNRI score can be considered a simple and reliable marker of predictor for mortality risk in Japanese HD patients.

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Telomere length is independently associated with all-cause mortality in chronic heart failure

Heart ◽

10.1136/heartjnl-2020-318654 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. heartjnl-2020-318654

Author(s):

Simon P R Romaine ◽

Matthew Denniff ◽

Veryan Codd ◽

Mintu Nath ◽

Andrea Koekemoer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Proportional Hazards ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Prognostic Significance ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Primary Endpoints ◽

Patients With Heart Failure ◽

All Cause Mortality ◽

Heart Failure Hospitalisation

ObjectivePatients with heart failure have shorter mean leucocyte telomere length (LTL), a marker of biological age, compared with healthy subjects, but it is unclear whether this is of prognostic significance. We therefore sought to determine whether LTL is associated with outcomes in patients with heart failure.MethodsWe measured LTL in patients with heart failure from the BIOSTAT-CHF Index (n=2260) and BIOSTAT-CHF Tayside (n=1413) cohorts. Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed individually in each cohort and the estimates combined using meta-analysis. Our co-primary endpoints were all-cause mortality and heart failure hospitalisation.ResultsIn age-adjusted and sex-adjusted analyses, shorter LTL was associated with higher all-cause mortality in both cohorts individually and when combined (meta-analysis HR (per SD decrease in LTL)=1.16 (95% CI 1.08 to 1.24); p=2.66×10−5), an effect equivalent to that of being four years older. The association remained significant after adjustment for the BIOSTAT-CHF clinical risk score to account for known prognostic factors (HR=1.12 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.20); p=1.04×10−3). Shorter LTL was associated with both cardiovascular (HR=1.09 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.19); p=0.047) and non-cardiovascular deaths (HR=1.18 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.32); p=4.80×10−3). There was no association between LTL and heart failure hospitalisation (HR=0.99 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.07); p=0.855).ConclusionIn patients with heart failure, shorter mean LTL is independently associated with all-cause mortality.

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Decreased Mortality with Beta-Blocker Therapy in HFpEF Patients Associated with Atrial Fibrillation

Cardiology Research and Practice ◽

10.1155/2020/3059864 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Yanhua Yang ◽

Suxia Guo ◽

Ziyao Huang ◽

Chunhua Deng ◽

Lihua Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Beta Blocker ◽

Proportional Hazards ◽

Heart Diseases ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards ◽

Kaplan Meier ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards Models ◽

Significant Difference ◽

All Cause Mortality

Background. There are no proven effective treatments that can reduce the mortality in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), probably due to its heterogeneous nature which will weaken the effect of therapy in clinical studies. We evaluated the effect of beta-blocker treatment in HFpEF patients associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), which is a homogeneous syndrome and has seldom been discussed. Methods. This retrospective cohort study screened 955 patients diagnosed with AF and HFpEF. Patients with a range of underlying heart diseases or severe comorbidities were excluded; 191 patients were included and classified as with or without beta-blocker treatment at baseline. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality and rehospitalization due to heart failure. Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariable Cox proportional-hazards models were used to evaluate the differences in outcomes. Results. The mean follow-up was 49 months. After adjustment for multiple clinical risk factors and biomarkers for prognosis in heart failure, patients with beta-blocker treatment were associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.405, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.233–0.701, p=0.001) compared with those without beta-blocker treatment. However, the risk of rehospitalization due to heart failure was increased in the beta-blocker treatment group (HR = 1.740, 95% CI = 1.085–2.789, p=0.022). There was no significant difference in all-cause rehospitalization between the two groups (HR = 1.137, 95% CI = 0.803–1.610, p=0.470). Conclusions. In HFpEF patients associated with AF, beta-blocker treatment is associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality, but it increased the risk of rehospitalization due to heart failure.

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