Prognosis of Heart Failure in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Although in the study by Mentz et al. concomitant COPD in heart failure patients did not significantly increase in-hospital all-cause mortality, others have provided evidence that newly detected heart failure in community-dwelling elderly COPD patients doubles mortality rates. Also in newly diagnosed hospitalized heart failure patients, those with COPD had higher all-cause 5 year mortality. Also FEV1, as a percentage of the predicted value, is an independent predictor for all-cause mortality in patients admitted with heart failure. Although not extensively investigated, there seems to be no significant difference in prognosis between HF-REF and HF-PEF (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction) patients with co-existing COPD.