Echocardiographic derived pulmonary artery wedge pressure is associated with mortality, heart hospitalizations, and functional capacity in chronic systolic heart failure: insights from the HF-ACTION trial

Background Heart Failure (HF) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Identification of patients at risk for adverse events could lead to improved outcomes. Few studies address the association of echocardiographic-derived PAWP with exercise capacity, readmissions, and mortality in HF. Methods HF-ACTION enrolled 2331 outpatients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) who were randomized to aerobic exercise training versus usual care. All patients underwent baseline echocardiography. Echocardiographic-derived PAWP (ePAWP) was assessed using the Nagueh formula. We evaluated the relationship between ePAWP to clinical outcomes. Results Among the 2331 patients in the HF-ACTION trial, 2125 patients consented and completed follow-up with available data. 807 of these patients had complete echocardiographic data that allowed the calculation of ePAWP. Of this cohort, mean age (SD) was 58 years (12.7), and 255 (31.6%) were female. The median ePAWP was 14.06 mmHg. ePAWP was significantly associated with cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization (Hazard ratio [HR] 1.02, coefficient 0.016, CI 1.002–1.030, p = 0.022) and all-cause death or HF hospitalization (HR 1.01, coefficient 0.010, CI 1.001–1.020, p = 0.04). Increased ePAWP was also associated with decreased exercise capacity leading to lower peak VO2 ( p = < 0.001), high Ve/VCO2 slope ( p = < 0.001), lower exercise duration ( p = < 0.001), oxygen uptake efficiency ( p = < 0.001), and shorter 6-MWT distance ( p = < 0.001). Conclusions Among HFrEF patients, echocardiographic-derived PAWP was associated with increased mortality, reduced functional capacity and heart failure hospitalization. ePAWP may be a viable noninvasive marker to risk stratify HFrEF patients.