Mode of death in elderly and super‐elderly patients with acute heart failure: Insights from Japanese heart failure registry

BACKGROUND: In Japan, both the prevalence of the elderly and super‐elderly and those of acute heart failure (AHF) have been increasing rapidly. METHODS: This registry was a prospective multicenter cohort, which enrolled a total of 1253 patients with AHF. In this study, 1117 patients' follow‐up data were available and were categorized into three groups according to age: <75 years old (nonelderly), 75–84 years old (elderly), and ≥ 85 years old (super‐elderly). The endpoint was defined as all‐cause death and each mode of death after discharge during the 3‐years follow‐up period. RESULTS: Based on the Kaplan–Meier analysis, a gradually increased risk of all‐cause death according to age was found. Among the three groups, the proportion of HF death was of similar trend; however, the proportion of infection death was higher in elderly and super‐elderly patients. After adjusting for potentially confounding effects using the Cox and Fine–Gray model, the hazard ratio (HR) of all‐cause death increased significantly in elderly and super‐elderly patients (HR, 2.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.93–3.54 and HR, 5.04; 95% CI, 3.72–6.92, respectively), when compared with nonelderly patients. The highest sub‐distribution HR in detailed mode of death was infection death in elderly and super‐elderly patients (HR, 4.25; 95% CI, 1.75–10.33 and HR, 10.10; 95% CI, 3.78–27.03, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In this population, the risk of all‐cause death was found to increase in elderly and super‐elderly. Elderly patients and especially super‐elderly patients with AHF were at a higher risk for noncardiovascular death, especially infection death.