Incidence of, Associations With and Prognostic Impact of Worsening Renal Function in Heart Failure With Different Ejection Fraction Categories

Abstract

There are no studies of long-term worsening renal function (WRF) in heart failure (HF) with different ejection fraction (EF) groups. The aim was to compare incidence of, associations with and prognostic impact of WRF in HF with preserved (HFpEF), mid-range (HFmrEF), and reduced EF (HFrEF). The Swedish Heart Failure Registry (SwedeHF) was merged with the Stockholm Creatinine Measurement (SCREAM) registry 2006 to 2010. The associations between EF and WRF (≥25% decrease in eGFR) and the associations between WRF25-49% and WRF≥50% within year one and subsequent all-cause mortality were all assessed with multiadjusted Cox regression. Of 7,154 patients, 41.6% of HFpEF versus 34.5% and 35.4% of HFmrEF and HFrEF patients developed WRF≥25% during year one. The WRF risk was higher in HFpEF (reference) than in HFmrEF, hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) 0.890 (0.794 to 0.997) and HFrEF 0.870 (0.784 to 0.965). WRF within year one was strongly associated with subsequent long-term mortality in all EF groups, yielding adjusted HRs with WRF25-49% and WRF≥50%: HFpEF, 1.101 (0.913 to 1.328) and 2.096 (1.652 to 2.659), in HFmrEF 1.654 (1.353 to 2.022) and 2.375 (1.807 to 3.122) and in HFrEF 1.212 (1.060 to 1.386) and 1.694 (1.412 to 2.033). In conclusion, the long-term WRF risk was high in HF and highest in HFpEF. WRF was strongly associated with mortality in all EF groups, although in HFpEF only with the most severe WRF.