Incidence, prognosis and predictors of heart failure after acute myocardial infarction

Introduction and objectives To study the incidence, predictors and prognosis of follow-up de novo heart failure (HF) after discharge for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥50% and without previous history of HF. Methods Retrospective multicenter registry that includes 2158 consecutive patients discharged for AMI, from January 2011 to December 2015, with LVEF ≥50% and without history of HF. The association between clinical variables and the development of de novo HF was assessed by Fine–Gray proportional hazards regression analysis, accounting for death as a competing episode. The adjusted effect of post-discharge HF on subsequent mortality was investigated using extended Cox proportional hazards model. Results During follow-up (20.1±11.8 months), 60 patients (2.8%) had HF admissions, with a cumulative incidence function of 1.7 per 100 patient-year. Age ≥70 years, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and renal dysfunction were independent risk factors for follow-up HF. The HF incidence rate after surviving AMI increased with a higher number of risk factors, from 0.1% in patients with 0, to 1.8%, 3.8%, 15.3%, and 19% in patients with 1, 2, 3, and 4 risk factors, respectively (P <.0001). Patients who experience follow-up new-onset HF had a 3.77-fold increased risk of death compared with other AMI survivors. Conclusions De novo HF after hospital discharge for ACS in patients with LVEF ≥50% is an independent predictor of follow-up death. Fortunately, it is an infrequent post-AMI complication and is easily predictable the combination of 4 clinical risk factors.