Clinical and echocardiographic findings of newly diagnosed acute decompensated heart failure in elderly patients

Purpose: Elderly patients (pts) (EPs; ≥ 65 years old) with newly diagnosed-acute decompensated heart failure (ND-ADHF) have not yet been studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate clinical characteristics, including echocardiographic findings and prognosis, for EPs with ND-ADHF and to compare those with non-elderly pts (NEPs). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively investigated 256 pts (144 males, 63.0 ± 14.8 years old) who were admitted to our hospital between January 2005 and March 2009 with ND-ADHF. Clinical characteristics and echocardiographic parameters were analyzed in EPs (n = 135, 58 males) and NEPs (n = 121, 86 males). Results: In intergroup comparison, female gender, diabetes mellitus, previous stroke and hypertension were more common in EPs. Body mass index (22.3 ± 4.5 vs. 24.0 ± 4.4 kg/m2), estimated glomerular filtration rate (54.8 ± 24.3 vs. 69.2 ± 30.7 mL/min/m2), C-reactive protein (28.5 ± 46.9 vs. 7.6 ± 11.6 mg/dL), hemoglobin (12.3 ± 2.1 vs. 13.6 ± 2.3 g/dL) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide level (10,538.2 ± 10,942.3 vs. 6,771.0 ± 8,964.7 pg/mL) were significantly different (p < 0.05 for all). Early mitral inflow velocity to early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E/E') was significantly higher in EPs than in NEPs (21.2 ± 9.4 vs. 18.0 ± 8.9, p < 0.05). During follow-up (44.7 ± 14.5 months), there were no significant differences in in-hospital mortality, re-hospitalization and cardiovascular mortality between EPs and NEPs (p = NS for all). Conclusion: EPs with ND-ADHF have different clinical characteristics and higher LV filling pressure when compared with NEPs. However, the clinical outcomes for NEPs with ND-ADHF are not necessarily more favorable than those for EPs.