Table 1.
Characteristics of 522 patients with chronic heart failure and preserved or impaired left ventricular systolic function. Values are means (standard deviations) unless stated otherwise
| Characteristic | Preserved function (n=163) | Impaired function (n=359) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 62.5 (10.7) | 62.3 (9.10) | 0.8* |
| No (%) of men | 117 (72) | 287 (80) | 0.07† |
| NYHA class (No (%)): | |||
| I | 3 (2) | 7 (2) | <0.001† |
| II | 119 (73) | 190 (53) | |
| III | 41 (25) | 162 (45) | |
| Hypertension (No (%)) | 10 (6) | 11 (3) | 0.2† |
| Ischaemic heart disease (No (%)) | 124 (76) | 284 (79) | 0.5† |
| Myocardial infarction (No (%)) | 106 (65) | 237 (66) | 0.9† |
| Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (No (%)) | 127 (78) | 294 (82) | 0.4† |
| Median (interquartile range) frusemide dose (mg) | 40 (40 to 80) | 80 (40 to 80) | <0.001# |
| β blocker (No (%)) | 11 (7) | 22 (6) | 0.9# |
| Digoxin (No (%)) | 23 (14) | 75 (21) | 0.09# |
| Creatinine (μmol/l) | 115 (39) | 123 (42) | <0.05* |
| Sodium (mmol/l) | 139.9 (2.60) | 139.6 (3.44) | 0.3* |
| Potassium (mmol/l) | 4.36 (0.43) | 4.33 (0.51) | 0.4* |
| Plasma glucose (mmol/l) | 5.90 (2.82) | 5.92 (2.31) | 0.9* |
| Median (interquartile range) cardiothoracic ratio | 0.50 (0.47 to 0.55) | 0.53 (0.50 to 0.57) | <0.001# |
| Left ventricular end systolic diameter (cm) | 4.08 (0.96) | 5.50 (0.98) | <0.001* |
| Left ventricular end diastolic diameter (cm) | 5.79 (1.01) | 6.43 (0.95) | <0.001* |
| Left ventricular hypertrophy (No (%)) | 20 (12) | 36 (10) | 0.7† |
| Median (interquartile range) heart rate (beats/min) | 69 (63 to 82) | 76 (66 to 89) | <0.001# |
| Non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (No (%)) | 41 (25) | 158 (44) | <0.001† |
| Median (interquartile range) SDNN (ms) | 115 (91 to 144) | 110 (81 to 142) | 0.1# |
| Total mortality at five years (No (%)) | 41 (25) | 151 (42) | <0.001† |
NYHA=New York Heart Association.
SDNN=standard deviation of all normal R-R intervals over 24 hours.
Left ventricular hypertrophy was determined on the basis of voltage criteria.
*
Student's t test (for normally distributed data).
†
ϰ2 test (for categorical variables).
#
Mann-Whitney U test (for non-normally distributed data).