Systolic aortic regurgitation predicts all-cause mortality and hospitalization in outpatients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Systolic aortic regurgitation (SAR) is considered to be a specific sign of heart failure (HF). However, the prevalence and importance of SAR in patients with HF and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are unknown. Therefore, we soughtto examine the prevalence of SAR in HFpEF outpatients and its association with all-cause mortality and/or cardiovascularhospitalizations during a 1-year follow-up.METHODS: We enrolled 301 consecutive outpatients with HFpEF (mean age of 67.3±9.6 years, 53.5% women) and prospectively followed up for one year. Demographic, clinical, echocardiographic, and laboratory data were obtained at study entry.The composite endpoint of this study was all-cause mortality or HF-related hospitalizations in one year.RESULTS: SAR was noted in 30 (9.9%) of the patients, and 38 patients (12.6%) reached the primary endpoint. The primarycomposite endpoint in one year was higher for the patients with SAR (26.3%) compared to the patients without SAR (7.6%,p