Heart failure and preserved left ventricular function: long term clinical outcome.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Clinical Medicine
• Prognostics

Background:

• Heart failure (HF) is a condition with a generally poor prognosis.
• A growing number of HF patients exhibit preserved left ventricular function (LVF).
• The long-term outlook for HF with preserved LVF may be more severe than previously thought.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the long-term clinical outcomes for patients diagnosed with HF and preserved LVF.
• To identify predictors of clinical outcomes in this patient cohort.

Main Methods:

• Prospective evaluation of 309 hospitalized patients with a confirmed HF diagnosis.
• Mean follow-up duration of 6.5 years to monitor clinical outcomes.
• Echocardiography used to determine preserved systolic LVF.

Main Results:

• 36% of patients demonstrated preserved systolic LVF.
• Long-term survival rates were poor and statistically similar between preserved (28%) and reduced (23%) LVF groups.
• Event-free survival from death or HF re-hospitalization was low and not significantly different between groups (12% vs. 10%).
• Predictors of mortality in preserved LVF patients included age, functional capacity, and serum urea levels.

Conclusions:

• Patients with heart failure and preserved LVF experience a poor long-term clinical outcome.
• The prognosis for HF with preserved LVF is comparable to that of HF with reduced LVF.