Performance of AHEAD Score in an Asian Cohort of Acute Heart Failure With Either Preserved or Reduced Left Ventricular Systolic Function

• Published in: Journal of the American Heart Association 2017-05, Vol.6 (5)
• Main Authors: Chen, Yu-Jen, Sung, Shih-Hsien, Cheng, Hao-Min, Huang, Wei-Ming, Wu, Chung-Li, Huang, Chi-Jung, Hsu, Pai-Feng, Yeh, Jong-Shiuan, Guo, Chao-Yu, Yu, Wen-Chung, Chen, Chen-Huan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; acute heart failure; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Atrial Fibrillation - diagnosis; Atrial Fibrillation - ethnology; Biomarkers - blood; Cardiovascular Agents - therapeutic use; Chi-Square Distribution; Comorbidity; Creatinine - blood; Decision Support Techniques; Diabetes Mellitus - diagnosis; Diabetes Mellitus - ethnology; ejection fraction; Female; Heart Failure - drug therapy; Heart Failure - ethnology; Heart Failure - mortality; Heart Failure - physiopathology; Hemoglobins - metabolism; Hospitalization; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Kidney Diseases - diagnosis; Kidney Diseases - ethnology; Male; Middle Aged; Original Research; Predictive Value of Tests; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Registries; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Sodium - blood; Stroke Volume; Systole; Taiwan - epidemiology; uric acid; Uric Acid - blood; Ventricular Function, Left
• ISSN: 2047-9980; 2047-9980
• DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.116.004297

AHEAD (A: atrial fibrillation; H: hemoglobin; E: elderly; A: abnormal renal parameters; D: diabetes mellitus) score has been related to clinical outcomes of acute heart failure. However, the prognostic value of the AHEAD score in acute heart failure patients with either reduced or preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF and HFpEF) remain to be elucidated. The study population consisted of 2143 patients (age 77±12 years, 68% men, 38% HFrEF) hospitalized primarily for acute heart failure with a median follow-up of 23.75 months. The performance of the AHEAD score (atrial fibrillation, hemoglobin 70 years, creatinine >130 μmol/L, and diabetes mellitus) was evaluated by Cox's regression analysis for predicting cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The mean AHEAD scores were 2.7±1.2 in the total study population, 2.6±1.3 in the HFrEF group, and 2.7±1.1 in the HFpEF group. After accounting for sex, sodium, uric acid, and medications, the AHEAD score remained significantly associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio and 95% CI: 1.49, 1.38-1.60 and 1.48, 1.33-1.64), respectively. The associations of AHEAD score with mortality remained significant in the subgroups of HFrEF (1.63, 1.47-1.82) and HFpEF (1.34, 1.22-1.48). Moreover, when we calculated a new AHEAD-U score by considering uric acid (>8.6 mg/dL) in addition to the AHEAD score, the net reclassification was improved by 19.7% and 20.1% for predicting all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively. The AHEAD score was useful in predicting long-term mortality in the Asian acute heart failure cohort with either HFrEF or HFpEF. The new AHEAD-U score may further improve risk stratification.