Pulse pressure and all-cause mortality in ischaemic heart failure patients: a prospective cohort study

Whether the association between pulse pressure (PP) and mortality varies with systolic blood pressure (SBP) in ischaemic heart failure (HF) with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) is unknown.

To evaluate the association between PP and all-cause mortality in ischaemic HF patients with SBP status at admission.

This prospective cohort study included 1581 ischaemic HF patients with LVSD. A total of 23.3% (n = 368) and 22.2% (n = 351) of the participants had SBP <110 mmHg and SBP >140 mmHg, respectively, with more than 80% of participants being male. Restricted cubic spline was performed to determine whether a nonlinear relationship existed between PP and all-cause mortality risk. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the association between PP and all-cause mortality.

After a median of follow-up of 3.0 years, 257 events (16.4%) were observed in the cohort. There was a J-shaped relationship between PP and all-cause mortality (P value for nonlinearity = 0.020), with a risk nadir of approximately 46-49 mmHg. All-cause mortality risk varied with SBP status. Higher PP was associated with worse prognosis when the SBP was ≥110 mmHg, whereas the relationship did not reach statistical significance when the SBP was <110 mmHg.

A J-shaped relationship between PP and all-cause mortality was observed in ischaemic HF patients with LVSD, and higher PP was associated with worse prognosis only in those with SBP ≥110 mmHg. Further studies are needed to corroborate these findings.KEY MESSAGESA J-shaped relationship between pulse pressure and all-cause mortality was observed in ischaemic heart failure patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, with a risk nadir of approximately 46-49 mmHg.All-cause mortality risk varied with systolic blood pressure status, and higher pulse pressure was associated with worse prognosis when systolic blood pressure was above 110 mmHg.