Combined assessment of myocardial damage and electrical disturbance in chronic heart failure

Table 3 Clinical characteristics of the 4 subgroups of chronic heart failure patients

	Normal (n = 136)	QRS prolongation (n = 20)	High H-FABP (n = 125)	High H-FABP and QRS prolongation (n = 41)
Age, yr	65 ± 13	59 ± 11	74 ± 11ab	71 ± 13b
Female, n (%)	58 (42)	10 (50)	55 (45)	17 (41)
NYHA functional class, II/III/IV	97/30/9	3/4/2013	51/54/20	14/18/9e
Etiology, n (%)
Dilated cardiomyopathy	33 (24)	8 (40)	24 (19)	15 (37)
Hypertensive heart disease	8 (6)	1 (5)	5 (4)	1 (2)
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy	11 (8)	3 (15)	6 (5)	0 (0)
Ischemic heart disease	21 (15)	3 (15)	31 (24)	10 (24)
Valvular heart disease	40 (30)	3 (15)	29 (24)	8 (20)
Arrhythmia	12 (9)	0 (0)	8 (7)	4 (10)
Others	11 (8)	2 (10)	22 (17)	3 (7)
Atrial fibrillation, n (%)	48 (35)	7 (35)	41 (33)	13 (32)
Diabetes mellitus, n (%)	46 (33)	6 (28)	46 (37)	17 (41)
Dyslipidemia, n (%)	39 (28)	4 (20)	32 (26)	12 (29)
Hypertension, n (%)	92 (67)	11 (55)	89 (72)	25 (61)
Blood biomarkers
BNP, pg/mL (IQR)	347 (69-453)	389 (213-855)	700 (311-1257)a	628 (328-1075)a
H-FABP, ng/mL (IQR)	3.2 (2.4-3.9)	3.6 (2.8-4.2)	7.6 (5.7-11.0)ab	7.6 (5.7-9.8)ab
eGFR, mL/min per 1.73 m2	75 ± 20	71 ± 26	57 ± 20a	52 ± 17ad
Echocardiographic data
LV end-diastolic diameter, mm	52 ± 10	65 ± 9ad	54 ± 9b	60 ± 10ac
LV ejection fraction, %	55 ± 18	35 ± 15a	49 ± 17b	38 ± 14ad
Electrocardiogram
Heart rate, beat/min	78 ± 19	72 ± 13	79 ± 22	72 ± 20
QRS duration, ms	100 ± 10	143 ± 23ad	100 ± 10	138 ± 14ad
Medications, n (%)
ACE inhibitors and/or ARBs, n (%)	86 (62)	13 (65)	85 (69)	29 (71)
β-blockers, n (%)	65 (47)	15 (75)	64 (52)	26 (63)
Ca channel blockers, n (%)	36 (26)	0 (0)	24 (20)	6 (15)
Diuretics, n (%)	72 (52)	14 (70)	82 (67)	34 (83)e
Statins, n (%)	40 (29)	5 (25)	28 (23)	10 (24)

^aP < 0.01 vs normal;

^bP < 0.01 vs QRS prolongation; and

^cP < 0.05 and

^dP < 0.01 vs High H-FABP by analysis of variance with the Scheffe post hoc test.

^eP < 0.01 by χ² test. Normal group (n = 136): H-FABP ≤ 4.5 ng/mL and QRS duration < 120 ms, QRS prolongation group (n = 20): H-FABP ≤ 4.5 ng/mL and QRS duration ≥ 120 ms, High H-FABP group (n = 123): H-FABP > 4.5 ng/mL and QRS duration < 120 ms, and High H-FABP and QRS prolongation group (n = 41): H-FABP > 4.5 ng/mL and QRS duration ≥ 120 ms. ACE: Angiotensin-converting enzyme; ARB: Angiotensin receptor blocker; BNP: Brain natriuretic peptide; eGFR: Estimated glomerular filtration rate; H-FABP: Heart-type fatty acid-binding protein; LV: Left ventricular; NYHA: New York Heart Association.