Can an elderly woman's heart be too strong?

Background Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in women. We sought to validate previous clinical experience in which we have observed that elderly women with a very high left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) are at increased risk of death compared with elderly women with acute coronary syndromes with a normal LVEF. Methods Data from 5,127 elderly female patients (age >65 years) enrolled in the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events were collected. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on their LVEF: group I had a low ejection fraction (<55%), group II had a normal ejection fraction (55%-65%), and group III had a high ejection fraction (>65%). X(2) test and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed. The main outcome measures were death in-hospital and death, stroke, rehospitalization, and myocardial infarction at 6-month follow-up. Results Hospital mortality was 12% in group I. Patients in group III were more likely to die in-hospital than those in group II (P=.003). Multivariable logistic regression showed that high ejection fraction was an independent predictor of hospital death (odds ratio [OR] 2.5, 95% CI [CI] 1.2-5.2, P=.01), 6-month death (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.4, P=.01), and cardiac arrest/ventricular fibrillation (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2-5.0, P=.01) compared with the normal ejection fraction group. Conclusions Having a very high LVEF (>65%) is associated with worse survival and higher rates of sudden cardiac death than an LVEF considered to be in the reference range. (Am Heart J 2010; 160: 849-54.)