Clinical Characteristics, Comorbidities, and Prognosis in Patients with Heart Failure with Unknown Ejection Fraction



Steven J. Lavine1, 2, *, Ghulam Murtaza1, Zia Ur Rahman1, Danielle Kelvas1, Timir K Paul1
1 East Tennessee State University - Quillen College of Medicine Mountain Home, TN 37684, USA
2 Washington University of St. Louis 660 South Euclid Avenue Campus Box 8086 St. Louis , MO 63110, USA

Abstract

Background:

Heart failure (HF) is a frequent cause of mortality and recurrent hospitalization. Although HF databases are assembled based on left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, patients without LV ejection fraction determination are not further analyzed.

Objective:

The purpose of this study is to characterize patient attributes and outcomes in this group-HF with unknown ejection fraction (HFunEF).

Methods:

We queried the electronic medical record from a community-based university practice for patients with a HF diagnosis. We included patients with >60 days follow-up and had interpretable Doppler-echocardiograms. We recorded demographic, Doppler-echocardiographic, and outcome variables (up to 2083 days).

Results:

There were 820 patients: 269 with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), 364 with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), of which 231 had a LV ejection fraction=40-49% and 133 had a LV ejection fraction<40%, and 187 with HFunEF. As compared to patients with HFunEF, HFpEF patients were younger, had a higher coronary disease and hyperlipidemia prevalence. Patients with HFrEF had more prevalent coronary disease, myocardial infarction, and hyperlipidemia. Patients with HFunEF were more likely to be seen by non-cardiology providers. All-cause mortality (ACM) was greater in HFunEF patients than patients with HFpEF (Hazard Ratio (HR)=1.60 (1.16-2.29), p=0.004). Furthermore, HF readmission rates were lower in HFunEF as compared to HFpEF (HR=0.33 (0.27-0.54), p<0.0001) and HFrEF (HR=0.30 (0.028-0.50), p<0.0001).

Conclusion:

Patients with HFunEF have greater ACM and lower HF re-admission than other HF phenotypes. Adherence to core measures, including LV ejection fraction assessment, may improve outcomes in this cohort of patients.

Keywords: Heart failure, Ejection fraction, Mortality, Heart failure re-admission, Heart failure phenotypes, Heart failure verification.


Abstract Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2020
Volume: 14
First Page: 3
Last Page: 13
Publisher Item Identifier: EA-TOHYPERJ-2020-5

Article History:

Electronic publication date: 23/9/2020
Collection year: 2020

© 2020 Lavine et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


* Address correspondence to this author at Washington University of St. Louis, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Tel/Fax: 314-454-7409, 314-362-4278; E-mail:Stevenjlavine@wustl.edu