Abstract 16064: Prognostication of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction on Optimized Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a valuable tool for predicting outcomes in patients with heart failure. Peak oxygen consumption (VO2) and minute ventilation/carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2) are important prognostic factors in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, prior studies have not examined the impact of optimization of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) on the utility of CPET in prognostication. Hypothesis: This study aims to investigate the prognostic value of CPET in a cohort of HFrEF patients who are compliant with all four GDMT components: beta-blockers (BB), ace-inhibitors (ACEi)/angiotensin II-receptor-blockers (ARB)/angiotensin-receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI), mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA), and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2). This will be compared to patients with HFrEF who are not fully optimized on GDMT to determine variation in the statistical significance of prognostic factors. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 176 HFrEF patients who underwent CPET for prognostication purposes. The patients were followed for one year after. CPET testing was completed between January 2020 to June 2022. LVEF was evaluated by echocardiography, completed within 3 months of the CPET. From the data, 125 participants had an LVEF less than or equal to 40%. Of those, 71 were compliant with all four GDMT components, while 54 were not. Results: After one year, there were 16 events (MSR, transplant, or death) in the GDMT-optimized group comprised of 71 participants. Peak VO2 was higher in the no-event group and was notably the only statistically significant predictor of adverse event (p =0.0162). Similarly, of the 54 participants on less than four GDMT components, 13 adverse events occurred, and the strongest predictor was again peak VO2 (p=0.0027). In addition, VE/VCO2 slope were lower (p= 0.0234) and circulatory power were higher (p=0.0044) in the no-event group. Conclusions: In patients with HFrEF that are optimized on GDMT, peak VO2 is consistently the most robust and only statistically significant prognostication tool on CPET for MCS, transplantation, or death within one year.