Relationship Between Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction and ICD-10 Codes Among Patients Hospitalized With Heart...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Heart Failure Research
• Clinical Informatics

Background:

• Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is crucial for classifying heart failure (HF).
• Limited data exists on LVEF distribution across different HF classifications based on ICD-10 codes.
• Understanding this distribution is vital for accurate patient stratification and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the distribution of LVEF in hospitalized heart failure patients.
• To correlate LVEF with specific International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 codes for heart failure types.
• To assess the concordance between ICD-10 defined HF types and measured LVEF.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 61,238 HF hospitalizations from January 2018 to October 2022.
• Included patients with principal HF diagnosis using specific ICD-10 codes (systolic, diastolic, combined, hypertensive heart disease).
• Analyzed LVEF data from echocardiography within 3 months prior to hospitalization for 49,772 patients.

Main Results:

• High concordance observed between LVEF and ICD-10 codes for systolic HF (LVEF ≤ 40%) and diastolic HF (LVEF ≥ 50%).
• Systolic HF: 86.2% had LVEF ≤ 40%; Diastolic HF: 94.0% had LVEF ≥ 50%.
• Hypertensive heart disease with HF and CKD showed a wider range of LVEF values.

Conclusions:

• ICD-10 codes show good concordance with LVEF for distinct HF types (systolic, diastolic, combined).
• However, these specific HF codes represent a small fraction (~10%) of total HF hospitalizations.
• Further research is needed to understand LVEF distribution in broader HF populations.