Resting Cardiac Power Predicts Adverse Outcome in Heart Failure Patients With Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Prospective Study.

BACKGROUND

We sought to explore the significance of resting cardiac power/mass in predicting adverse outcome in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

METHODS

This prospective cohort study included patients with HFpEF and without significant valve disease or right ventricular dysfunction. Cardiac power was normalized to left ventricular (LV) mass and expressed in W/100 g of LV myocardium. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between resting cardiac power/mass and composite endpoint, which included all-cause mortality and heart failure (HF) hospitalization.

RESULTS

A total of 2,089 patients were included in this study. After an average follow-up of 4.4 years, 612 (29.30%) patients had composite endpoint, in which 331 (15.84%) died and 391 (18.72%) experienced HF hospitalization. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, resting power/mass < 0.7 W/m was independently associated with composite endpoint, all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and HF hospitalization, with hazard ratios (HR) of 1.309 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.108-1.546, = 0.002], 1.697 (95%CI: 1.344-2.143, < 0.001), 2.513 (95%CI: 1.711-3.689, < 0.001), and 1.294 (95%CI: 1.052-1.592, = 0.015), respectively. For composite endpoint, cardiovascular mortality and HF hospitalization, the C statistic increased significantly when incorporating resting cardiac power/mass into a model with established risk factors. For composite endpoint, the continuous net reclassification index after adding resting cardiac power/mass in the original model with N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide was 13.1% (95%CI: 2.9-21.6%, = 0.007), and the integrated discrimination index was 1.9% (95%CI: 0.8-3.2%, < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Resting cardiac power determined by non-invasive echocardiography is independently associated with the risk of adverse outcomes in HFpEF patients and provides incremental prognostic information.