Baseline Characteristics of the Study Population
A total of 916 patients with HFrEF with data on thyroid function and echocardiography during the follow-up period were included in this study, with a median age of 64 years and 629 patients (68.7%) were male. Of whom 357 patients (39.0%) had coronary heart disease, 313 patients (34.2%) had hypertension, and 177 patients (19.3%) had diabetes. Additionally, 677 individuals (73.9%) were treated with ARNI/ACEI/ARB drugs, 685 (74.8%) with beta-blockers, 146 (15.9%) with SGLT2 inhibitors, and 813 (88.8%) with Antisterone.
Patients were classified into the euthyroid group with 804 cases (87.8%) and the SCH group with 112 cases (12.2%) according to their thyroid function. The baseline characteristics of the two groups are shown in Table 1, compared with those with euthyroidism, patients in the SCH group had a higher proportion of women (P=0.01), higher NT-pro BNP values (P=0.046), and higher SPAP (P=0.003), a lower median LVEF (P=0.033) during follow-up, and a lower proportion of patients on ARNI/ACEI/ARB analogs (P=0.044). No significant differences were observed in baseline LVEF values, other clinical characteristics, or medication treatment status (Table 1).
Table 1. Main baseline characteristics of patients according to thyroid functional status
Variables
|
Euthyroidism (N =804)
|
SCH (N =112)
|
P value
|
Age (years)
|
64 (52, 71)
|
63 (53, 72)
|
0.546
|
Females n, (%)
|
240 (29.9)
|
47 (42.0)
|
0.010
|
BMI (kg/m2)
|
24.03 (21.61, 26.73)
|
23.84 (21.61, 26.50)
|
0.781
|
Heart rate (beats/min)
|
81 (71, 96)
|
80 (68, 90)
|
0.134
|
SBP (mmHg)
|
121 (109, 134)
|
120 (110, 134)
|
0.669
|
DBP (mmHg)
|
78 (69, 87)
|
78 (69, 86)
|
0.668
|
NYHA class
|
NYHA class III n, (%)
|
464 (57.7)
|
63 (56.3)
|
0.711
|
NYHA class IV n, (%)
|
265 (33.0)
|
39 (34.8)
|
Baseline EF (%)
|
31 (27, 36)
|
31 (25, 37)
|
0.833
|
Change in EF (%)
|
10 (3, 20)
|
8 (3, 18)
|
0.054
|
EF MAX (%)
|
42 (33, 52)
|
40 (28, 50)
|
0.033
|
HFimpEF n, (%)
|
359 (44.7)
|
37 (33.0)
|
0.020
|
LAD (mm)
|
48 (43, 53)
|
50 (44, 55)
|
0.136
|
LVEDD (mm)
|
69 (63, 76)
|
69 (61, 78)
|
0.506
|
LVESD (mm)
|
59 (53, 65)
|
58 (51, 68)
|
0.726
|
SPAP (mmHg)
|
43 (32, 54)
|
46 (37, 60)
|
0.003
|
Medical history
|
Coronary heart disease n, (%)
|
321 (39.9)
|
36 (32.1)
|
0.114
|
Hypertension n, (%)
|
277 (34.5)
|
36 (32.1)
|
0.629
|
Atrial fibrillation n, (%)
|
144 (17.9)
|
27 (24.1)
|
0.115
|
PCI n, (%)
|
55 (6.8)
|
10 (8.9)
|
0.420
|
Diabetes n, (%)
|
157 (19.5)
|
20 (17.9)
|
0.675
|
Laboratory measurements
|
NT-pro BNP (pg/mL)
|
2983 (1494, 5803)
|
3566 (1909, 6968)
|
0.046
|
Hemoglobin (g/L)
|
132 (122, 143)
|
130 (121, 142)
|
0.364
|
Serum creatinine (μmol/mL)
|
85 (71, 105)
|
92 (76, 105)
|
0.099
|
LDL cholesterol (mmol/L)
|
2.34 (1.81, 2.83)
|
2.13 (1.78, 2.86)
|
0.177
|
FT3 (pmol/L)
|
4.37 (3.90, 5.00)
|
4.26 (3.47, 4.61)
|
< 0.001
|
FT4 (pmol/L)
|
14.89 (12.97, 17.15)
|
14.22 (12.60, 16.68)
|
0.049
|
TSH (mIU/L)
|
1.99 (1.25, 2.81)
|
5.90 (5.18, 7.48)
|
< 0.001
|
Medication
|
ARNI /ACEI/ARB n, (%)
|
603 (75.0)
|
74 (66.1)
|
0.044
|
SGLT2 inhibitors n, (%)
|
126 (15.7)
|
20 (17.9)
|
0.554
|
Beta-blockers n, (%)
|
609 (75.7)
|
76 (67.9)
|
0.072
|
Antisterone n, (%)
|
715 (88.9)
|
98 (87.5)
|
0.653
|
Loop diuretic n, (%)
|
723 (89.9)
|
99 (88.4)
|
0.617
|
Abbreviations: SCH, subclinical hypothyroidism; BMI, body mass index; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; NYHA, New York Heart Association; EF, ejection fraction; HFimpEF, heart failure with improved ejection fraction; LAD, left atrial diameter; LVEDD, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter; LVESD, left ventricular end-systolic diameter; SPAP, systolic pulmonary artery pressure; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; NT-pro BNP, N-terminal pro-B-type; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; FT3, free triiodothyronine; FT4, free thyroxine; TSH, thyroid-stimulating hormone; ARNI, angiotensin-receptor neprilysin inhibitors; ACEI, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors; ARB, angiotensin receptor blockers; SGLT2, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2.
P-values were obtained by using the Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables and the chi-square test for categorical variables.
Potential influencing factor of HFimpEF
By collecting the LVEF values during the follow-up period of the enrolled HFrEF patients, a total of 396 (43.2%) patients improved their LVEF to HFimpEF. In comparison with patients with persistent HFrEF, HFimpEF patients had slightly higher baseline LVEF values (P=0.005), with an improvement in median LVEF values from 32% to 54.0%, whereas the median LVEF only increased by 4% in patients with persistent HFrEF. Table S1 showed that compared with persistent HFrEF patients, HFimpEF patients had a lower prevalence of SCH (9.3% Vs. 14.4%, P=0.020), and were relatively younger (P=0.026) with higher heart rate (P=0.023) SBP (P<0.001) and DBP (P= 0.006) (Table S1).
Univariable logistic regression analysis indicated that elevated LAD, LVEDD, LVESD and SPAP (P all< 0.001), serum creatinine (OR: 0.996, P=0.012), and NT-pro BNP (OR: 0.956, P=0.001) may served as potential risk factors for HFimpEF. In contrast, the use of SGLT2 inhibitors (OR: 1.478, P=0.031) were potential protective factors for HFimpEF (Table S2).
Association between SCH and HFimpEF
Univariable logistic regression analysis showed that SCH (OR: 0.612 [95% CI 0.403-0.928]) was negatively associated with the progress of HFimpEF (Table S1). After adjusting for age and gender (Model 1), baseline LVEF, BMI, laboratory measurements and echocardiographic parameters (Model 2), medical history and medication (Model 3), SCH was persistently associated with HFimpEF. As shown in Model 3, the probability of HFrEF patients with SCH progressing to HFimpEF decreased by 37.8% (OR: 0.622 [95%CI 0.397-0.974]) compared with patients with euthyroidism (Table 2). Subgroup analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the effect of SCH on HFimpEF among subgroups defined by gender, age, BMI and cardiovascular risk factors (Figure 2).
Table 2. Multivariate analysis for SCH and development of HFimpEF
Models
|
OR (95%CI)
|
P value
|
Model 1
|
0.600 (0.394- 0.915)
|
0.018
|
Model 2
|
0.616 (0.394- 0.962)
|
0.033
|
Model 3
|
0.622 (0.397- 0.974)
|
0.038
|
Model 1, adjustment for age and gender;
Model 2, additional adjustment for LVEF baseline, BMI, LAD, LVEDD, SPAP, NT-pro BNP;
Model 3, additional adjustment for coronary heart disease, PCI and diabetes, medication use of ARNI/ACEI/ARB, SGLT2 inhibitors;
Abbreviations: HFimpEF, heart failure with improved ejection fraction; SCH, subclinical hypothyroidism; BMI, body mass index; EF, ejection fraction; LAD, left atrial diameter; LVEDD, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter; SPAP, systolic pulmonary artery pressure; NT-pro BNP, N-terminal pro-B-type; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; ARNI, angiotensin-receptor neprilysin inhibitors; ACEI, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors; ARB, angiotensin receptor blockers; SGLT2, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2.