Myocardial contractile dysfunction associated with increased 3-month and 1-year mortality in hospitalized patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction

Abstract Background There is a clinical need for a contractility index that reflects myocardial contractile dysfunction even when ejection fraction (EF) is preserved. We used novel relative load-independent global and regional contractility indices to compare left ventricular (LV) contractile function in three groups: heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF), HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFREF) and normal subjects. Also, we determined the associations of these parameters with 3-month and 1-year mortality in HFPEF patients. Methods 199 HFPEF patients [median age (IQR): 75 (67–80) years] and 327 HFREF patients [69 (59–76) years] were recruited following hospitalization for HF; 22 normal control subjects [65 (54–71) years] were recruited for comparison. All patients underwent standard two-dimensional Doppler and tissue Doppler echocardiography to characterize LV dimension, structure, global and regional contractile function. Results The median (IQR) global LV contractility index, dσ*/dtmax was 4.30 s − 1 (3.51–4.57 s − 1 ) in normal subjects but reduced in HFPEF [2.57 (2.08–3.64)] and HFREF patients [1.77 (1.34–2.30)]. Similarly, median (IQR) regional LV contractility index was 99% (88–104%) in normal subjects and reduced in HFPEF [81% (66–96%)] and HFREF [56% (41–71%)] patients. Multi-variable logistic regression analysis on HFPEF identified sc-mFS < 76% as the most consistent predictor of both 3-month (OR = 7.15, p < 0.05) and 1-year (OR = 2.57, p < 0.05) mortality after adjusting for medical conditions and other echocardiographic measurements. Conclusion Patients with HFPEF exhibited decreased LV global and regional contractility. This population-based study demonstrated that depressed regional contractility index was associated with higher 3-month and 1-year mortality in HFPEF patients.