Adverse left ventricular remodeling in community-dwelling older adults predicts incident heart failure and mortality

Objectives: This study sought to determine whether specific patterns of adverse left ventricular (LV) structural remodeling are associated with differential rates of cardiovascular (CV) outcomes.

Background: It is not known whether a stepwise combinatorial assessment of LV volume, mass, and geometry done to define specific remodeling patterns provides incremental prognostic information.

Methods: A total of 3,181 Cardiovascular Health Study participants (mean age, 73 years of age; 60% women, 5% African American) were categorized by LV remodeling patterns and related to a multivariate-adjusted (age, sex, race, ejection fraction, hypertension, myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease) analysis of CV outcomes (incident heart failure [HF], all-cause mortality, and a combined endpoint of HF and mortality) over a 13-year follow-up period.

Results: Examined independently, either left ventricular enlargement (LVE) or left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was associated with a higher risk of HF (32%, 34%, respectively) than with normal geometry (17%; p < 0.001). When LV volume and mass were used in combination, important incremental prognostic information was achieved. In the absence of LVE, HF was more common in those with LVH than in those with normal mass (32% vs. 16%, respectively; p < 0.001). In the presence of LVE, HF was more common in those with LVH than in those with normal mass (37% vs. 29%, respectively; p = 0.021). The subgroup with normal volume and mass but relative wall thickness (RWT) >0.42 carried a higher risk of HF (21%) than those with normal geometry (15%; p = 0.011). Once LVH or LVE was present, the addition of RWT to this analysis did not affect HF rate. Similar results were obtained for the other CV outcomes.

Conclusions: Stepwise combinatorial assessment of LV volume, mass, and geometry provides incremental prognostic information regarding CV outcomes.