Search

Introduction Heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) has been recognized in the last heart failure guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology, replacing the concept of “midrange ejection fraction”. There is limited data regarding mortality outcomes of HFmrEF compared to heart failure with reduced (HFrEF) and preserved (HFpEF) ejection fraction. Purpose We aimed to evaluate whether HFmrEF has a different prognosis after an acute heart failure (AHF) episode, in a real-world contemporaneous southern European population. Methods We retrospectively studied 1026 patients admitted to our emergency department between November 2016 and December 2017 with discharge diagnosis of AHF. Median follow up was 5 months (IQR 3–11 months). Incidence of rehospitalization, cardiovascular (CV) and all-cause mortality were evaluated through multivariable logistic regression models and by Kaplan-Meyer survival curves. Results From all patients, 782 were categorized in HFrEF (34.1%), HFmrEF (19.4%) and HFpEF (46.4%). There was heterogeneity between groups. Compared to HFrEF, HFmrEF patients were older (80 [74–84] vs. 76 [67–82] years, p Conclusions HFmrEF have a similar prognosis to HFrEF and worse than HFpEF, with more readmissions, CV and all-cause mortality, after an AHF episode. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

Introduction Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is recommended in patients with heart failure (HF) to optimize exercise prescription and as part of the evaluation for heart transplantation. Hemodynamic gain index (HGI) derived from CPET has been proposed as a new marker of risk stratification in general population cohorts. Purpose We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of HGI in patients with HF. Methods We conducted a single-centre study assessing consecutive patients with HF who underwent CPET from 2013 to 2017. HGI was calculated based on heart rate (HR) and systolic blood pressure (SBP): HGI = [(HRpeak × SBPpeak) − (HRrest × SBPrest)] / (HRrest × SBPrest). Classic and recently proposed variables were collected, including peak O2 uptake (pVO2), minute ventilation–CO2 production (VE/VCO2 slope), circulatory power (CP = pVO2 × peak SBP), and ventilatory power (VP = peak SBP/(VE/VCO2) slope). The primary outcome was a composite of HF hospitalization, heart transplant, and all-cause mortality. Results A total of 212 patients (mean age 55.4±10.9, 76.9% male) were included. Most patients had dilated cardiomyopathy (43.9%) followed by ischaemic aetiology (38.7%), with a mean left ventricle ejection fraction of 29±13%. The most used exercise protocol was the modified Naughton (76.6%), followed by the original Naughton (18.7%), and Bruce (4.8%). Mean pVO2 was 16.7±5.9mL O2 kg–1 min–1 and median VE/VCO2 slope was 37.5 [32.7–44.3]. Mean VP was 3.46±1.31mmHg while median CP was 1927 [1427–2697]mmHg min/mL/kg. Mean HGI was 0.90±0.5 bpm/mmHg. Despite weak, there were significant positive correlations between HGI and mean pVO2 (rs=0.55, p1.02). After a median follow-up of 71 [49–81] months, the primary outcome occurred in 66.0% of patients (rehospitalization, heart transplant, and all-cause death occurred in 56.1%, 25.9%, and 32.5%, respectively). In the T1 group, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for the primary outcome was 3.73 (95% CI 1.97–7.06, p Conclusion HGI is inversely associated with the composite of HF hospitalization, heart transplant, and all-cause mortality in patients with heart failure, enhancing the role of CPET in risk stratification. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.