Baseline characteristics of study participants
| Data presented as mean (SD) or number. | |
| *Heart failure causes: idiopathic (12), hypertension (4), viral (4), familial (2), myotonic dystrophy (1), Marfan’s syndrome (1); †coronary angiogram not performed in four participants with a low probability of ischaemic heart disease; ‡some degree of coronary artery disease in patients without angina pectoris and normal thallium and sestamibi stress test. | |
| AST, aspartate amino transferase; ATIIRB, angiotensin II receptor blocker; GGT, γ glutamyl transferase; hsCRP, high sensitivity C reactive protein; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; MAP, mean arterial blood pressure; NYHA, New York Heart Association; UACR, urinary albumin creatinine ratio. | |
| Total number of participants | 23* |
| Age (years) | 60.7 (10.4) |
| Men/women | 16/7 |
| Smokers | 3 |
| NYHA class II/III | 14/9 |
| LVEF (%) | 30.1 (7.7) |
| Time from first diagnosis (months) | 46.7 (54.6) |
| Normal coronary angiogram | 15† |
| Abnormal coronary angiogram | 4§ |
| Type 2 diabetes | 4 |
| Hypertension | 8 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 27.2 (4.9) |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 120.8 (16.5) |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 77.8 (8.9) |
| MAP (mm Hg) | 92.1 (11.1) |
| Serum urea (mmol/l) | 7.5 (3.0) |
| Serum creatinine (µmol/l) | 0.09 (0.02) |
| Plasma glucose (mmol/l) | 5.5 (2.5) |
| Serum GGT (mmol/l) | 47.9 (63.3) |
| Serum AST (mmol/l) | 23.5 (7.4) |
| hsCRP (mg/l) | 2.02 (0.33) |
| Fibrinogen (g/l) | 3.3 (0.1) |
| UACR (g/mol) | 0.95 (0.12) |
| Concomitant drugs | |
| Furosemide | 18 |
| Furosemide dose (mg/day) | 142.2 (341.5) |
| Enalapril or equivalent | 18 |
| Enalapril dose (mg/day) | 13.9 (7.4) |
| ATIIRB | 4 |
| β blocker | 13 |
| Digitalis | 2 |
| Spironolactone | 4 |
| Aspirin | 14 |
| Aspirin dose (mg/day) | 167.9 (75.0) |