Prognostic value of albumin to fibrinogen ratio for mortality in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Background Albumin to fibrinogen ratio (AFR) has emerged as a useful indicator for adverse outcomes in several diseases. However, whether the AFR could be a new useful indicator to predict mortality in HCM patients remains to be evaluated. The study investigated the predictive value of the AFR for HCM-related death in adult HCM patients. Methods A total of 404 HCM patients were retrospectively enrolled. Patients were divided into two groups based on the median of baseline AFR. The association between AFR and HCM-related death was analyzed. Results During a median follow-up duration of 4.75 years, 45 patients (11.1%) occurred in HCM-related death. The incidence of HCM-related death was significantly higher in the low AFR group (Log-rank p < 0.001). With the high AFR group as reference, the fully adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of HCM-related death were 3.15 for the low AFR group (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.16–0.64, p = 0.001). No significant interactions between AFR and other variables were observed in subgroup analysis. Sensitivity analyses in patients with normal albumin and fibrinogen have showed similar results. Conclusion AFR is an independent prognostic factor for HCM-related death in adult HCM patients.