Background: The mode of death has not been investigated in the registry data of patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFREF) vs. preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF). The aim of the present study was therefore to carry out this comparison.
Methods and results: The Japanese Cardiac Registry of Heart Failure in Cardiology (JCARE-CARD) prospectively studied the characteristics and treatments in a broad sample of 2,675 patients hospitalized with worsening HF, and followed them for an average of 2.1 years. This study included 323 patients in whom information on both the mode of death and left ventricular EF on echocardiography could be obtained. The mode of death was cardiovascular (CV) in 63% (including 17% sudden, 36% HF, 3% myocardial infarction, and 3% stroke), non-CV in 23%, and unknown in 14%. The prevalence of CV death including sudden death was high in patients with HFREF compared to HFPEF (68% vs. 58%, P=0.020). HF death, the most common mode of death, was similar between groups (37% vs. 35%, P=0.694). In contrast, non-CV mortality was significantly higher in HFPEF than those with HFREF (28% vs. 18%, P=0.021).
Conclusions: In 60-70% of deaths the mode was CV, and HF death was the most common mode of death in either HFREF or HFPEF. The prevalence of sudden death was lower, and that of non-CV death higher, in HFPEF compared with HFREF.