Prognostic role of sarcopenia in heart failure patients

Aim Sarcopenia is common in heart failure (HF) patients; however, there are no data regarding the possible long-term prognostic role of sarcopenia in younger adults with chronic HF without malnutrition. The aim of this study was to examine the long-term prognostic role of sarcopenia in predicting major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in outpatients with chronic HF. Methods In the present retrospective analysis, 670 subjects with HF were enrolled. MACE (non-fatal ischemic stroke, non-fatal myocardial infarction, cardiac revascularization or coronary bypass surgery, and cardiovascular death) and total mortality occurrence were evaluated during a mean follow-up of 4.7 years. Results In the entire population, 340 patients were sarcopenic and 330 were not sarcopenic. In patients without sarcopenia, the observed MACE were 2.1 events/100 patient-year; while in the sarcopenic group there were 13.3 events/100 patient-year (p < 0.001). The multivariate analysis model confirmed that sarcopenia increase the risk of MACE by a factor of 8.6. Patients with sarcopenia had also a higher incidence of total mortality (p < 0.001) than patients without sarcopenia. Conclusions Patients with chronic HF that suffered from sarcopenia show a higher risk of MACE and total mortality, independently by their chronological age.