History of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular biomarkers are associated with 30-day mortality in patients with hip fracture

Summary Hip fractures are associated with increased mortality and it is important to identify risk factors. This study demonstrates that preexisting cardiovascular disease as well as cardiovascular biomarkers that are associated with increased 30-day mortality. These findings can be used to identify high-risk patients who might benefit from specialized care. Introduction This study investigates the association between cardiovascular disease (CVD), cardiovascular biomarkers, and 30-day mortality following a hip fracture. Methods The Danish National Patient Registry was used to investigate the association between CVD and mortality following hip fracture in a nationwide population-based cohort study. In a subset of the included patients ( n = 355), blood samples were available from a local biobank. These samples were used for analyzing the association between specific biochemical markers and mortality. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Results A total of 113,211 patients were included in the population-based cohort study. Among these, heart failure was present in 9.4%, ischemic heart disease in 15.9%, and ischemic stroke in 12.0%. Within 30 days after the hip fracture, 11,488 patients died, resulting in an overall 30-day mortality of 10.1%. The 30-day mortality was significantly increased in individuals with preexisting CVD with multivariably adjusted odds ratios of 1.69 (95% confidence interval, 1.60–1.78) for heart failure, 1.23 (1.17–1.29) for ischemic heart disease, and 1.06 (1.00–1.12) for ischemic stroke. In the local database including 355 patients, 41 (11.5%) died within 30 days. The multivariably adjusted odds ratio for 30-day mortality increased with increasing NT-proBNP (2.36 [1.53–3.64] per quartile) and decreased with increasing HDL cholesterol (0.58 [0.41–0.82] per quartile). On this basis, we established a model for predicting the probability of death based on the biochemical markers. Conclusion Preexisting CVD was associated with increased 30-day mortality after a hip fracture. Furthermore, high levels of NT-proBNP and low levels of HDL cholesterol were associated with increased 30-day mortality.