Impact of Left Ventricular Chamber Size on Outcome in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Although heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has a highly variable phenotype, heteroge-neity in left ventricular chamber size (LVCS) and its association with long-term outcome have not been thor-oughly investigated. The present study sought to determine the impact of LVCS on clinical outcome in HFpEF. A total of 1505 consecutive HFpEF patients admitted to hospitals in the multicenter WET-HF Registry for acute decompensated HF (ADHF) between 2006 and 2017 were analyzed. The patients (age: 80 [73-86], male: 48%) were divided into larger (L) or smaller (S) LV end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) groups by the median value 45 mm. Younger age, male sex, higher body mass index, more favorable nutritional status, valvular etiology, and lower LVEF were associated with larger LVEDD. After propensity matching (399 pairs), the L group showed a larger left atrial diameter, E/e’, and tricuspid regurgitation pressure gradient and greater severity of mitral regur-gitation. The L group had a higher rate of composite endpoint of all-cause death and ADHF re-admission (P = 0.021) and was an independent predictor. On the other hand, in the pre-matched cohort, the S group rather showed higher in-hospital (4% versus 2%. P = 0.004) and post-discharge mortality (P = 0.009). In HFpEF, LVCS was affected by demographic and cardiac parameters. After adjustment for demographic parameters, larger LVCS was associated with worse clinical outcome. Higher mortality in the S group in the pre-matched cohort might be related to the demographic factors suggesting frailty and/or sarcopenia.