Predictors of mortality and burden of arrhythmias in endstage heart failure

Curr Probl Cardiol. 2024 Jun;49(6):102541. doi: 10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2024.102541. Epub 2024 Mar 21.

Abstract

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, contributing to approximately 1 in 8 deaths. Individuals with end-stage HF (eHF) experience debilitating symptoms leading to poor quality of life (QoL).

Methods: We used the ICD-10 code for eHF (I5084) from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) (2016-2020) to identify all patients with eHF. We used a multivariable logistic regression model to adjust for confounders and estimate the mortality probability in each arrhythmia cohort. Our primary outcome was in-hospital mortality risk in each group. A p-value of 0.05 was deemed significant.

Results: There were 22,703 hospitalizations with eHF (mean age 67 years ±16). Men represented 66.5 % (15,091) of the population. In this cohort, 59 % (13,018) were Caucasians, 27.2 % (6,017) were Blacks, 8.7 % (1,924) were Hispanics, and 2.9 % (505) were Asians. Of these individuals, 50.4 % (11,434) had atrial fibrillation (AFIB). The majority of the arrhythmia subgroups had independent associations with mortality, with adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for VFIB 5.8 (4.6-7.1), AFIB 4.3 (3.9-4.5), SVT 1.9 (1.6-2.4), and VT 1.2 (1.1-1.4), p < 0.0001, each.

Conclusion: This analysis revealed that approximately half of the hospitalized population with end-stage heart failure are burdened with atrial fibrillation. Ventricular and atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia, and ventricular tachycardia each carried an independent mortality risk, with ventricular fibrillation having the highest risk.

Keywords: Atrial Fibrillation; Complete Heart Block; Endstage Heart Failure; Mortality; Supraventricular Tachycardia; Ventricular Fibrillation.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Arrhythmias, Cardiac* / epidemiology
  • Arrhythmias, Cardiac* / mortality
  • Female
  • Heart Failure* / epidemiology
  • Heart Failure* / mortality
  • Hospital Mortality* / trends
  • Hospitalization / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Quality of Life
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Assessment / methods
  • Risk Factors
  • United States / epidemiology