Does diastolic function evaluated with radionuclide ventriculography predict mortality, hospitalization and the...

Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) in asymptomatic patients is associated with the development of heart failure (HF) and the degree of LVSD predicts prognosis. Whether left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) predicts the development of HF or mortality is not known. Our objective was to investigate the predictive value of LVDD evaluated by radionuclide ventriculography (RN). All patients referred for RN during a 12 month period were included. Medical records were reviewed to determine characteristics of the patients at the time of RN and events occurring during a 5 year follow-up. Data from 195 patients were analysed. During the follow-up period 49 patients (25.1%) died, 41 (21.0%) were admitted to hospital and 25 (12.3%) developed HF. An ejection fraction (EF) <40% was associated with mortality (relative risk (RR), 2.04; P=0.001) and hospital admissions (RR, 1.33; P=0.002). Patients who developed subsequent HF had, on average, lower EF at baseline. In a multivariate analysis the lower the EF the more likely patients were to develop new onset HF (odds ratio, 0.92; 95% CI 0.88-0.97; P=0.003). LVDD evaluated with peak filling rate and time to peak filling rate was not associated with any of the outcomes. However, a higher proportion of patients with pre-existing HF at the time of the RN had abnormal LVDD than patients with no HF. LVDD evaluated by RN is associated with symptoms of HF at the time of assessment but is not a good predictor of mortality, hospitalization or new onset HF. EF remains a better predictor of outcomes.