[Short-term prognosis in patients with congestive heart failure and normal left ventricular systolic function]

Congestive heart failure (CHF) has been traditionally associated with impairment of the left ventricular systolic function (LVSF). There are few clinical assays that describe the prognosis of patients with CHF and intact LVSF. The aims of this prospective assay are: to describe a group of 70 patients admitted to an internal medicine department with the clinical syndrome of CHF, to determine the contractile state of the left ventricle with echocardiography and to establish the short term prognosis. There were 39 males and 31 females with a mean age of 76.4. The LVSF was impaired in 38 (54.3%) [Group I] and preserved in 32 (45.7%) [Group II] (Table 1). Sex distribution was different between both groups with women predominating in group II (Figure 1). Fourteen patients belonging to Group II had diastolic function impairment according to cardiac Doppler. There was no other evidence of cardiac abnormality that could justify CHF. During an average of 8 months follow-up 20 (28%) patients died. There were no differences in overall mortality between Groups I and II (Figure 2). Multivariate analysis was used to determine the relative risk in prognosis of the covariates age, gender, systolic function and diameters of the LV. None of these were statistically significant (Table 2). In our series 45.7% of the patients with CHF had normal LVSF. The short term prognosis proved to be the same in patients with and without impaired LVSF.