title: Prognostic implications of functional mitral regurgitation according to the severity of the underlying chronic heart failure: a long-term outcome study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the independent prognostic role of functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) and its impact across the severity of chronic heart failure (CHF) in a large population of outpatients with systolic CHF followed at two multidisciplinary clinics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Echocardiography was performed upon enrolment in 469 CHF patients. Follow-up for death and heart transplant was updated on January 2007. Five-year transplant-free survival was 82.7% in patients with no or Grade I FMR, 64.4% in Grade II, 58.5% in Grade III, and 46.5% in Grade IV (P < 0.0001). There was a strong graded association between FMR and the long-term risk of death and heart transplant, which remained significant after multivariable adjustment (P = 0.0003). The association between FMR and events was strong and independent in patients with less severe symptoms and in those at lower overall risk based on a propensity score analysis, while it was not significant in patients with more advanced CHF or in the high-risk subgroup (P < 0.0001 for interactions).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study clarifies previous apparently discrepant results by demonstrating that FMR is an independent determinant of death and heart transplantation only in less severe CHF and in patients with a lower risk profile. This finding indicates that FMR plays a major role in the early phase of CHF, suggesting that this should be the focus of strategies attempting to reduce it.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiology, Policlinico University Hospital, Via del Pozzo 71, Modena, Italy. bursi.francesca@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bursi
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grigioni
authors.forename: Letizia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Reggianini
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zanasi
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leuzzi
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piovaccari
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Branzi
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Modena
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008944:Mitral Valve Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010045:Outpatients; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013318:Stroke Volume; D013599:Systole; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left; D055815:Young Adult