PROGNOSIS OF PATIENTS WITH HEART-FAILURE AND UNOPERATED SEVERE AORTIC VALVULAR REGURGITATION AND RELATION TO EJECTION FRACTION

Massell et al1 reported that 13 of 14 patients (93%) with unoperated severe chronic aortic regurgitation (AR) died within 2 years after the onset of congestive heart failure (CHF). We reported that left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction was the most important prognostic variable for mortality in elderly patients with CHF associated with coronary artery disease2 or unoperated severe valvular aortic stenosis.3 We report the results from a prospective study of elderly patients with CHF associated with unoperated severe valvular AR correlating normal and abnormal LV ejection fraction with cardiac mortality and total mortality. © 1994.