Cardiac Function and Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (From the TOPCAT Trial)

Abstract Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) have a significantly elevated risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD). However, few imaging data have been correlated to this risk. We evaluated the value of multiple echocardiographic markers of left ventricular function to predict SCD in HFpEF patients. The TOPCAT-Americas cohort was used to evaluate the echocardiographic predictors of SCD and/ or aborted cardiac arrest (SCD/ACA). A retrospective cohort design was used. Cox proportional hazards and Poisson regression models were used to determine the associations between the risk of SCD/ACA and echocardiographic parameters: diastolic dysfunction grade, left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF), and LV global longitudinal strain (GLS), during follow-up. Impaired LVEF and GLS were associated with SCD/ACA in univariate models (p