Characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized patients with heart failure and reduced vs preserved ejection fraction. Report from the Japanese Cardiac Registry of Heart Failure in Cardiology (JCARE-CARD).

BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (EF) is common. We compared the characteristics, treatments, and outcomes in HF patients with reduced vs preserved EF by using the national registry database in Japan.

METHODS AND RESULTS: The Japanese Cardiac Registry of Heart Failure in Cardiology (JCARE-CARD) is a prospective observational study in a broad sample of patients hospitalized with worsening HF. The study enrolled 2,675 patients from 164 hospitals with an average of 2.4 years of follow-up. Patients with preserved EF (EF >or=50% by echocardiography; n=429) were more likely to be older, female, have hypertension and atrial fibrillation, and less likely to have ischemic etiology compared with those with reduced EF (EF <40%; n=985). Unadjusted risk of in-hospital mortality (6.5% vs 3.9%; P=0.03) and post-discharge mortality (22.7% vs 17.8%; P=0.058) was slightly higher in patients with preserved EF, which, however, were not different after multivariable adjustment. Patients with preserved EF had similar rehospitalization rates (36.2% vs 33.4%; P=0.515) compared with patients with reduced EF.

CONCLUSIONS: HF patients with preserved EF had a similar mortality risk and equally high rates of rehospitalization as those with reduced EF. Effective management strategies are critically needed to be established for this type of HF.