Objective Patients with non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NICM) may experience a normalisation in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Although this correlates with improved prognosis, it does not correspond to a normalisation in the risk of death during follow-up. Currently, there are no tools to risk stratify this population. We tested the hypothesis that absolute global longitudinal strain (aGLS) is associated with mortality in patients with NICM and recovered ejection fraction (LVEF).

Methods We designed a retrospective, international, longitudinal cohort study enrolling patients with NICM with LVEF <40% improved to the normal range (>50%). We studied the relationship between aGLS measured at the time of the first recording of a normalised LVEF and all-cause mortality during follow-up. We considered aGLS >18% as normal and aGLS ≥16% as of potential prognostic value.

Results 206 patients met inclusion criteria. Median age was 53.5 years (IQR 44.3–62.8) and 56.6% were males. LVEF at diagnosis was 32.0% (IQR 24.0–38.8). LVEF at the time of recovery was 55.0% (IQR 51.7–60.0). aGLS at the time of LVEF recovery was 13.6%±3.9%. 166 (80%) and 141 (68%) patients had aGLS ≤18% and <16%, respectively. During a follow-up of 5.5±2.8 years, 35 patients (17%) died. aGLS at the time of first recording of a recovered LVEF correlated with mortality during follow-up (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.91 to 0.99, p=0.048 in adjusted Cox model). No deaths were observed in patients with normal aGLS (>18%). In unadjusted Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, aGLS <16% was associated with higher mortality during follow-up (31 deaths (22%) in patients with GLS <16% vs 4 deaths (6.2%) in patients with GLS ≥16%, HR 3.2, 95% CI 1.1 to 9, p=0.03).

Conclusions In patients with NICM and normalised LVEF, an impaired aGLS at the time of LVEF recovery is frequent and associated with worse outcomes.