Risk stratification is an important element of management in patients with heart failure (HF). We aimed to determine factors associated with predicting outcomes in end-stage HF patients listed for heart transplantation (HT), with particular emphasis placed on pentraxin-3 (PXT-3). In addition, we investigated whether the combination of PTX-3 with the Heart Failure Survival Score (HFSS), the Seattle Heart Failure Model (SHFM), or the Meta-Analysis Global Group in Chronic Heart Failure (MAGGIC) improved the prognostic strength of these scales in the study population. We conducted a prospective analysis of 343 outpatients with end-stage HF who accepted the HT waiting list between 2015 and 2018. HFSS, SHFM, and MAGGIC scores were calculated for all patients. PTX3 was measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with a commercially available kit. The endpoints were death, left ventricular assist device implantation, and HT during the one-year follow-up. The median age was 56 (50−60) years, and 86.6% were male. During the follow-up period, 173 patients reached the endpoint. Independent risk factors associated with outcomes were ischemic etiology of HF [HR 1.731 (1.227−2.441), p = 0.0018], mean arterial pressure (MAP) [1.026 (1.010−1.042), p = 0.0011], body mass index (BMI) [1.055 (1.014−1.098), p = 0.0083], sodium [1.056 [(1.007−1.109), p = 0.0244] PTX-3 [1.187 (1.126−1.251, p < 0.0001) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) [HR 1.004 (1.000−1.008), p = 0.0259]. The HFSS-PTX-3, SHFM-PTX-3 and MAGGIC-PTX-3 scores had significantly higher predictive power [AUC = 0.951, AUC = 0.973; AUC = 0.956, respectively] than original scores [AUC for HFSS = 0.8481, AUC for SHFM = 0.7976, AUC for MAGGIC = 0.7491]. Higher PTX-3 and NT-proBNP concentrations, lower sodium concentrations, lower MAP and BMI levels, and ischemic etiology of HF are associated with worse outcomes in patients with end-stage HF. The modified SHFM-PTX-3, HFSS-PTX-3, and MAGGIC-PTX-3 scores provide effective methods of assessing the outcomes in the analyzed group.
Keywords: heart failure; pentraxin-3; risk stratification; scales.