Effects of Weight Loss in Outpatients with Mild Chronic Heart Failure: Findings from the J-MELODIC Study.

BACKGROUND: Weight loss is a strong prognostic factor in chronic heart failure (CHF); however, little is known about its effects in patients with mild CHF. Therefore, we investigated the effects of weight loss in patients with mild CHF.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed a total of 242 outpatients with mild CHF from J-MELODIC study cohort. Weight loss was defined as ≥5% weight loss at 1 year. Twenty-seven (11.2%) patients lost ≥5% weight in 1 year. Patients with weight loss was associated with higher rate of underweight and worsening renal function in 1 year compared with those without ≥5% weight loss. The predictors of weight loss included edema, BNP, and DM at baseline. While weight loss was significantly associated with subsequent cardiovascular death or hospitalization for HF (log-rank, p = 0.002) and subsequent death from any cause (log-rank, p = 0.002), underweight was not associated with these outcomes (log-rank, p = 0.356 and 0.168, respectively). Even after adjusting for covariates, weight loss was a significant and independent risk factor for subsequent cardiovascular death or hospitalization for HF (HR, 3.22; 95% CI, 1.10-8.41; p = 0.034).

CONCLUSIONS: In patients with mild CHF, ≥5% weight loss was a significant predictor for subsequent cardiovascular death or hospitalization for HF.