title: Sudden cardiac death in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Whereas sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk has been recognized in heart failure (HF) patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), less is known about SCD risk in HF patients with preserved EF (HFpEF). We examined the incidence and predictors of SCD in HFpEF in a large population sample.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Medical records of patients discharged with a primary diagnosis of HF from hospitals in Minneapolis-St Paul in 1995 and 2000 were abstracted. HFpEF was defined as EF ≥ 45%. SCD was defined as cardiac arrest or out-of-hospital death due to coronary heart disease (CHD) on death certificates. A total of 2,203 patients (age 70 ± 11 years, 53% male) were included. The 787 patients (36%) with HFpEF were older, more often female and more likely to have hypertension than the 1,416 (64%) with HFrEF. All-cause mortality (52% vs 58%; P = .01) and SCD (6% vs 14%; P < .0001) rates were lower in HFpEF than in HFrEF 5 years after hospital discharge. Age, sex, CHD, and length of index hospitalization were the only independent predictors of SCD in HFpEF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Incidence of SCD in HFpEF is lower than in HFrEF. Present markers of SCD in HFpEF are sparse and insufficient to identify the patient at risk.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. adaba001@umn.edu
authors.forename: Selcuk
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adabag
authors.forename: Lindsay G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Inder S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.forename: Alan K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Russell V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Luepker
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008910:Minnesota; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013318:Stroke Volume; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents