Clinical Profiles and the Risk of Mortality Across Wide Spectrum of Oedema-Free Weight Change in Heart Failure

Background/Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in developed countries. The most challenging clinical presentation of their natural history is heart failure with lifetime probability of 20% in both genders. It is recognized when typical symptoms such as exercise intolerance, shortness of breath in horizontal position together with signs comprising of lower limb oedema, crackles in the lungs, widening of the jugular veins and liver enlargement. The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between the change in non-oedematous body mass and the clinical and laboratory profile in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Methods: The research material consists of 1029 patients with heart failure who were included in the Prospective Heart Failure Register maintained in the Third Department of Cardiology of the Silesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze since 2003. The collected data was subjected to statistical analysis in Statistica 13. Conclusions: The highest median values of ejection fraction of the left ventricle were observed in patients with weight gain, and the lowest – in patients who lost more than 5% of body weight. Patients with the loss of> 5% of body weight are characterized by the lowest probability of survival. Change in non-oedematous body mass affects adversely the clinical and laboratory profile of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Both weight loss above 5% and weight gain are associated with poorer prognosis and increased mortality in the study participants.