In-hospital and 1-year outcomes of acute heart failure patients according to presentation (de novo vs. worsening) and ejection fraction. Results from IN-HF Outcome Registry

Int J Cardiol. 2014 May 1;173(2):163-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2014.02.018. Epub 2014 Feb 22.

Abstract

Background: To investigate the outcomes of hospitalized patients with both de-novo and worsening heart failure (HF) with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (HFpEF) (LVEF ≥ 50%), compared to those with reduced LVEF (HFrEF).

Methods and results: We studied 1669 patients (22.6% HFpEF) hospitalized for acute HF in the prospective multi-center nationwide Italian Network on Heart Failure (IN-HF) Outcome Registry. In all patients LVEF was assessed during hospitalization. De-novo HF presentations constituted 49.6% of HFpEF and 43.1% of HFrEF hospitalizations. All-cause mortality during hospitalization was lower in HFpEF than HFrEF (2.9% vs 6.5%, p=0.01), but this mortality difference was not significant at 1 year (19.6% vs 24.4%, p=0.06), even after adjusting for clinical covariates. Similarly, there were no differences in 1-year mortality between HFpEF and HFrEF when compared by cause of death (cardiovascular vs non-cardiovascular) or mode of presentation (worsening HF vs de novo). Rehospitalization rates (all-cause, non-cardiovascular, cardiovascular, HF-related) at 90 days and 1 year were also similar. Mode of presentation influenced rehospitalizations in HFpEF, where those presenting with worsening HFpEF had higher all-cause (36.8% vs 21.6%, p=0.001), cardiovascular (28.1% vs 14.9%, p=0.002), and HF-related (21.1% vs 7.7%, p=0.0003) rehospitalization rates at 1 year compared to those with de novo presentations.

Conclusions: Outcomes at 1 year following hospitalization for HFpEF are as poor as that of HFrEF. A prior history of HF decompensation or hospitalization identifies patients with HFpEF at particularly high risk of recurrent events. These findings may have implications for clinical practice, quality and process improvements and trial design.

Keywords: Acute heart failure; Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction; Prognosis; Registry.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Observational Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / therapeutic use*
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Disease Progression
  • Diuretics / therapeutic use*
  • Female
  • Heart Failure* / drug therapy
  • Heart Failure* / mortality
  • Heart Failure* / physiopathology
  • Hospital Mortality
  • Humans
  • Inpatients / statistics & numerical data
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists / therapeutic use*
  • Patient Discharge / statistics & numerical data
  • Patient Readmission / statistics & numerical data
  • Prognosis
  • Registries / statistics & numerical data
  • Stroke Volume / physiology*

Substances

  • Adrenergic beta-Antagonists
  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Diuretics
  • Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists