Prognosis of congestive heart failure in patients with normal versus reduced ejection fractions: results from a cohort of 2,258 hospitalized patients.
BACKGROUND
Patients with congestive heart failure have an annual mortality of 10% to 20% depending on disease severity. Though one third of these patients have normal left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF), their natural history is poorly defined. Small population-based studies have suggested a more benign prognosis for patients with preserved LVEF. However, prognosis in hospitalized patients, who form a higher risk group, is not known.


METHODS
We investigated the survival patterns of 2,258 patients with a primary hospital discharge diagnosis of congestive heart failure between 1990 and 1999. Survival was analyzed and patients with normal and reduced LVEF were compared.


RESULTS
Their age was 71 +/- 11 years, and 97% were men. There were 1,535 deaths over a mean follow up of 786 days. Of these, 963 (43%) patients had a normal LVEF (>/=55%). Patients with normal LVEF were of the same age as those with reduced LVEF, but had a lower prevalence of atrial fibrillation (20 versus 26%, P =.03), left bundle branch block (2 versus 12%, P <.0001), significant mitral regurgitation (5 versus 31%, P <.0001) and electrocardiographic evidence of myocardial infarction (38 versus 60%, P <.0001). Despite lesser comorbidities, they had a higher mortality hazard, with a 5-year survival of 22% compared with 28% for those with systolic heart failure (P =.007). Proportional hazards model showed presence of normal EF as a categoric variable to be an independent predictor of mortality in those with heart failure after correcting for age and rhythm.


CONCLUSIONS
Prognosis of hospitalized patients with congestive heart failure and normal LVEF is worse than those with reduced EF despite lesser comorbidities. Studies addressing optimal management of these patients are warranted.
Varadarajan
Padmini
P
Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, California 92354, USA.
Pai
Ramdas G
RG
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors