Backgrounds:
The Get with The Guidelines (GWTG) heart failure (HF) risk score was developed in the GWTG inpatient HF registry to predict in-hospital mortality and has been recently reported to be associated with post-discharge long-term outcomes. Malnutrition is associated with poor outcome in ADHF patients. However, there is no information available on the long-term prognostic significance of the combination of GWTG-HF risk score and malnutrition in patients admitted for ADHF, relating to reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).
Methods:
We studied 303 ADHF patients discharged with survival (HFrEF(LVEF<40%); n=180, HFpEF(LVEF≥40%;n=123). At the admission, we evaluated GWTG-HF score and nutritional status. Variables required for the GWTG-HF risk score were race, age, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, serum levels of blood urea nitrogen and sodium, and the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nutritional status was evaluated by Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) calculated as follows: 14.89 · serum albumin (g/dl) + 41.7 · BMI/22, and malnutrition was defined as GNRI<92. The study endpoint was cardiovascular-renal poor outcome (CVR), defined as cardiovascular death and the development of end-stage renal disease requiring renal replacement therapy.
Results:
During a follow-up period of 4.2±3.3 yrs, 86 patients had CVR. At multivariate Cox analysis, GWTG-HF risk score and GNRI were significantly and independently associated with CVR, in both HFrEF and HFpEF groups. The patients with both greater GWTG-HF score (>median value=35) and malnutrition had a significantly increased risk of CVR than those with either and none of them ([HFrEF] 60% vs 32% vs 16%, p<0.0001, [HFpEF] 45% vs 18% vs 12%, p<0.0001, respectively)
Conclusion:
Malnutrition assessed by GNRI would provide the additional long-term prognostic information to GWTG-HF risk score in patients admitted for ADHF, irrespective of the presence of reduced LV function.
Potential role of the geriatric nutritional risk index as a novel risk factor for the development of non-valvular atrial fibrillation in patients with heart failure
