Table 1. Baseline clinical characteristics and clinical characteristics of patients with high vs. low 3 h skewness.
| Peak skewness | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | All patients | Above Median | Below Median | p-value |
| 5-year all-cause mortality (%) | 41.1 | 57.1 | 25.0 | 0.06 |
| Age (years) | 70.3 | 70.5 | 70.1 | 0.80 |
| Ejection fraction (%) | 23.8 | 25.0 | 24.9 | 0.98 |
| Heart rate (BPM) | 74.9 | 75.7 | 74.2 | 0.73 |
| Mean arterial pressure (mm Hg) | 90.2 | 89.3 | 91.1 | 0.68 |
| Peak VO2 (ml/kg) | 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.3 | 0.78 |
| HFSS (a.u) | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 0.77 |
| Sodium (mmol/l) | 140.1 | 139.9 | 140.3 | 0.76 |
| Hemoglobin (g/l) | 141.5 | 139.3 | 143.7 | 0.37 |
| Female (%) | 23.2 | 21.4 | 25.0 | 0.78 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 28.7 | 28.6 | 28.8 | 0.89 |
| Glomerular filtration rate (ml/min) | 65.9 | 63.1 | 68.7 | 0.45 |
| NT-proBNP (ng/l) | 3727 | 3969 | 3485 | 0.70 |
| Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (%) | 57.1 | 53.6 | 60.7 | 0.72 |
| ACEi/ARB-blockers (%) | 94.6 | 92.9 | 96.4 | 0.89 |
| Beta-blockers (%) | 96.5 | 100.0 | 92.9 | 0.79 |
| Atrial fibrillation (%) | 60.7 | 50.0 | 71.4 | 0.30 |
| Diabetes (%) | 42.9 | 46.4 | 39.3 | 0.68 |
| Kidney failure (%) | 28.6 | 25.0 | 32.1 | 0.62 |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (%) | 16.1 | 25.0 | 7.1 | 0.10 |
| Ischemic heart disease (%) | 57.1 | 57.1 | 57.1 | 1.00 |
| QRS-duration >120 ms (%) | 33.9 | 32.1 | 35.7 | 0.82 |
All patients had advanced heart failure receiving adequate medical treatment. Established risk-factors were equally distributed between the groups. Continuous variables were tested using t-test and frequencies using chi-square test.
BPM: Beats per minute
HFSS: Heart Failure Survival Score
eGFR: Estimated glomerular filtration rate
COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
ACEi: angioconverting enzyme inhibitor
ARB: angiotensin receptor blocker