High percent body fat mass predicts lower risk of cardiac events in patients with heart failure: an explanation of the obesity paradox

BACKGROUND: Although high body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor of heart failure (HF), HF patients with a higher BMI had a lower mortality rate than that in HF patients with normal or lower BMI, a phenomenon that has been termed the “obesity paradox”. However, the relationship between body composition, i.e., fat or muscle mass, and clinical outcome in HF remains unclear. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed data for 198 consecutive HF patients (76 years of age; males, 49%). Patients who were admitted to our institute for diagnosis and management of HF and received a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan were included regardless of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) categories. Muscle wasting was defined as appendicular skeletal muscle mass index < 7.0 kg/m(2) in males and < 5.4 kg/m(2) in females. Increased percent body fat mass (increased FM) was defined as percent body fat > 25% in males and > 30% in females. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 76 years (interquartile range [IQR], 67–82 years) and 49% of them were male. The median LVEF was 47% (IQR, 33–63%) and 33% of the patients had heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Increased FM and muscle wasting were observed in 58 and 67% of the enrolled patients, respectively. During a 180-day follow-up period, 32 patients (16%) had cardiac events defined as cardiac death or readmission by worsening HF or arrhythmia. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that patients with increased FM had a lower cardiac event rate than did patients without increased FM (11.4% vs. 22.6%, p = 0.03). Kaplan-Meier curves of cardiac event rates did not differ between patients with and those without muscle wasting (16.5% vs. 15.4%, p = 0.93). In multivariate Cox regression analyses, increased FM was independently associated with lower cardiac event rates (hazard ratio: 0.45, 95% confidence interval: 0.22–0.93) after adjustment for age, sex, diabetes, muscle wasting, and renal function. CONCLUSIONS: High percent body fat mass is associated with lower risk of short-term cardiac events in HF patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-020-01950-9.