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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Echocardiographic pulmonary artery pressure estimation and heart failure rehospitalization burden in patients with acute heart failure

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Abstract Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a strong predictor of mortality in patients with heart failure (HF). However, the relationship between PH, through echocardiographic pulmonary artery pressure (PASP) estimation, and the risk of HF rehospitalizations remains unclear. Methods We prospectively included 2343 consecutive patients discharged for acute heart failure (AHF). PH was estimated by echocardiography through PASP determination during the index admission. Patients were categorized as follows across PASP: non-measurable, normal (≤35mmHg), mild (36–45mmHg), moderate (46–60mmHg), or severe PH (>60mmHg). Negative binomial regression method was used to evaluate the association between PASP and recurrent HF hospitalizations across preserved (HFpEF: ≥50%), mid-range (HFmrEF: 40–49%) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF: Results Mean age of the cohort was 72.8±11.2years, 1187 (50.5%) were women, and 1252 (53.4%) and 410 (17.5%) showed HFpEF and HFmrEF, respectively. At a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 2.3 (0.8–4.5) years, we registered 1114 (47.6%) deaths, and 1834 HF-related rehospitalizations in 943 (40.2%) patients. After multivariable adjustment, and compared to patients with normal PASP, severe PH exhibited an independent higher risk of recurrent HF admissions only in HFpEF (IRR=1.66; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16–2.38; p =0.005), whereas in HFmrEF patients there was a non-significant trend to higher HF readmissions (IRR: 1.73; 95% CI, 0.85–3.55; p =0.132). Severe PH was not related with recurrent hospitalizations in HFrEF (IRR: 1.19; 95% CI, 0.66–2.14; p =0.553). Conclusions Echocardiography-derived PASP evaluated during an episode of AHF is related to HF readmission burden, particularly in those patients with HFpEF.