Are atherosclerotic risk factors associated with a poor prognosis in patients with hyperuricemic acute heart failure? The evaluation of the causal dependence of acute heart failure and hyperuricemia

Atherosclerosis induces the elevation of uric acid (UA), and an elevated UA level is well known to lead to a poor prognosis in patients with acute heart failure (AHF). However, the prognostic value of atherosclerotic risk factors in hyperuricemic AHF patients remains to be elucidated. The data from 928 patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Nippon Medical School Chiba Hokusoh Hospital between January 2001 and December 2014, and whose serum UA levels were measured were screened. A total of 394 AHF patients with hyperuricemia were enrolled in this study. The patients were assigned to a low-risk group (≤1 atherosclerosis risk factor) and a high-risk group (≥2 atherosclerosis risk factors) according to their number of risk factors. The patients in the low-risk group were more likely to have dilated cardiomyopathy, clinical scenario 3 than those in the high-risk group. The serum total bilirubin, blood urea nitrogen, C-reactive protein, and brain-type natriuretic peptide levels were significantly higher in the low-risk group than the high-risk group (p < 0.001, p = 0.005, p = 0.003, and p = 0.008, respectively). A multivariate Cox regression model revealed that the number of risk factors (number = 1, HR (hazard ratio) 0.243, 95 % CI 0.096–0.618, p = 0.003; number = 2, HR 0.253, 95 % CI 0.108–0.593, p = 0.002; number ≥3, HR 0.209, 95 % CI 0.093–0.472, p < 0.001), eGFR (per 1.0 mmol/l increase) (HR 0.977, 95 % CI 0.961–0.994, p = 0.007), and serum UA level (per 1 mg/dl increase) (HR 1.270, 95 % CI 1.123–1.435, p < 0.001) was an independent predictor of 1-year mortality. The prognosis, including all-cause death and HF events, was significantly poorer among the low-risk patients than among the high-risk patients. Atherosclerotic risk factors were not associated with a poor prognosis in patients with hyperuricemic AHF.