Among ambulatory and stable patients with chronic HF (CHF), a bending oxygen saturation index (BOSI) of greater than or equal to -3%, but not bendopnea, was independently associated with a greater risk for total—first and recurrent—worsening HF (WHF), according to findings published in the European Journal of Heart Failure. Julio
Núñez, MD, PhD, and colleagues sought to determine whether bendopnea, a clinical symptom of advanced HF with undetermined prognostic value, and the change in BOSI was associated with poor outcomes in ambulatory CHF. In their prospective analysis of 440 patients (mean age, 74; 58.6% male), bendopnea was identified in 94 patients (21.4%), and 120 patients (27.3%) had a BOSI of greater than or equal to -3%. Agreement between BOSI of greater than or equal to -3% and bendopnea was moderate (P<0.001). At a median follow-up of 2.17years, 441 WHF events occurred in 148 patients. BOSI was independently associated with the risk for total WHF episodes (overall, P<0.001) after multivariable adjustment. Bendopnea was not associated with the risk for total WHF episodes.
