Background
The female preponderance in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a distinguishing feature of this disorder, but the association of sex with degree of diastolic dysfunction and clinical outcomes among individuals with HFpEF remains unclear.
Methods and Results
We conducted a prospective, multicenter, observational study of patients with HFpEF (PURSUIT‐HFpEF [Prospective Multicenter Observational Study of Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction]: UMIN000021831). Between 2016 and 2019, 871 patients were enrolled from 26 hospitals (follow‐up: 399±349 days). We investigated sex‐related differences in diastolic dysfunction and postdischarge clinical outcomes in patients with HFpEF. The echocardiographic end point was diastolic dysfunction according to American Society of Echocardiography/European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging criteria. The clinical end point was a composite of all‐cause death and heart failure readmission. Women accounted for 55.2% (481 patients) of the overall cohort. Compared with men, women were older and had lower prevalence rates of hypertension, coronary artery disease, and chronic kidney disease. Women had diastolic dysfunction more frequently than men (52.8% versus 32.0%,
P
<0.001). The incidence of the clinical end point did not differ between women and men (women 36.1/100 person‐years versus men 30.5/100 person‐years,
P
=0.336). Female sex was independently associated with the echocardiographic end point (adjusted odds ratio, 2.839; 95% CI, 1.884–4.278;
P
<0.001) and the clinical end point (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.538; 95% CI, 1.143–2.070;
P
=0.004).
Conclusions
Female sex was independently associated with the presence of diastolic dysfunction and worse clinical outcomes in a cohort of elderly patients with HFpEF. Our results suggest that a sex‐specific approach is key to investigating the pathophysiology of HFpEF.
Registration
URL:
https://upload.umin.ac.jp
; Unique identifier: UMIN000021831.
ObjectiveThe pathophysiological heterogeneity of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) makes the conventional ‘one-size-fits-all’ treatment approach difficult. We aimed to develop a stratification methodology to identify distinct subphenotypes of acute HFpEF using the latent class analysis.MethodsWe established a prospective, multicentre registry of acute decompensated HFpEF. Primary candidates for latent class analysis were patient data on hospital admission (160 features). The patient subset was categorised based on enrolment period into a derivation cohort (2016–2018; n=623) and a validation cohort (2019–2020; n=472). After excluding features with significant missingness and high degree of correlation, 83 features were finally included in the analysis.ResultsThe analysis subclassified patients (derivation cohort) into 4 groups: group 1 (n=215, 34.5%), characterised by arrythmia triggering (especially atrial fibrillation) and a lower comorbidity burden; group 2 (n=77, 12.4%), with substantially elevated blood pressure and worse classical HFpEF echocardiographic features; group 3 (n=149, 23.9%), with the highest level of GGT and total bilirubin and frequent previous hospitalisation for HF and group 4 (n=182, 29.2%), with infection-triggered HF hospitalisation, high C reactive protein and worse nutritional status. The primary end point—a composite of all-cause death and HF readmission—significantly differed between the groups (log-rank p<0.001). These findings were consistent in the validation cohort.ConclusionsThis study indicated the feasibility of clinical application of the latent class analysis in a highly heterogeneous cohort of patients with acute HFpEF. Patients can be divided into 4 phenotypes with distinct patient characteristics and clinical outcomes.Trial registration numberUMIN000021831.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.