Human epididymis protein 4: a novel predictor of ischemic cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: The prognostic value of human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) is unknown. METHODS: A total of 103 patients with ICM were prospectively enrolled in this study from Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital between February 2019 and June 2019. All patients were tested for HE4 levels at baseline and follow-up. Endpoints of the study included cardiovascular death and heart failure-related hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 96 patients with ICM were included for analysis. After a mean follow-up period of 263 (153–313) days, cardiovascular events were observed in 45 patients. Serum HE4 levels in patients with events were significantly higher than those in patients without events [188.70 (113.35–326.82) pmol/L versus 92.90 (61.50–123.20) pmol/L, P < 0.001]. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that HE4 [χ(2): 9.602, hazard ratio (HR): 1.003, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.001–1.005, P = 0.002] and age [χ(2): 4.55, HR: 1.044, 95% CI: 1.003–1.085, P = 0.033] were independent predictors of events. After adjusting for age and sex, the risk of events in patients with HE4 > 100.2 pmol/L was higher than that in patients with HE4 ≤ 100.2 pmol/L [HR: 3.372, 95% CI: 1.409–8.065, P < 0.001]. CONCLUSION: HE4 is an independent predictor of cardiovascular death and heart failure-related rehospitalization in patients with ICM.