Recovery of LVEF in patients with tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy
The absolute LVEF improvement of the total TCM cohort after a median of six months of FU was 21 % (Table 1). We arbitrarily defined a group of TCM patients with good LVEF recovery (mean absolute LVEF improvement > 21 %) and compared it to the remaining TCM patients with an absolute LVEF improvement of ≤ 21 %. The echocardiographic findings at baseline in the group with LVEF recovery > 21 % were significantly worse compared to the group with LVEF recovery of ≤ 21 % - Table 3. Otherwise, we were not able to demonstrate any significant differences between the two groups for baseline characteristics, clinical presentation, rhythm at FU, and immunohistochemical findings.
Table 3 : Characteristics of TCM patients with improved LVEF during follow-up
Abbreviations: BL = baseline; FU = follow up; IQR: interquartile range; LA: left atrium; LVEDD: left ventricular end-diastolic diameter; LVEF: left ventricular ejection fraction; NT-BNP: N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide; RV: right ventricle. The numbers highlighted in boldface indicate statistically significant differences between groups.
* p < 0.001 Baseline versus follow up