The non-linear association between ascending aorta diameter and risk of 12-month mortality in Chinese patients with heart failure: A retrospective cohort study

Background: There is no conclusive proven link between ascending aorta diameter (AoD) and the risk of death from heart failure (HF). As a result, a retrospective cohort analysis was carried out to determine whether AoD is associated with 12-month mortality in Chinese HF patients. Methods: From January 2017 to March 2020, we collected data on 575 Chinese patients with HF. The exposure and outcome variables were baseline AoD and 12-month risk of mortality (all-cause + cardiac origin), respectively. Data on demographics, drug usage, clinical characteristics, recognized indicators of HF, and comorbidities were included as covariates. To investigate the independent relationships of AoD with the risk of 12-month death, binary logistic regression and two-piecewise linear models were utilized. Results: Our findings imply that there was a non-linear relationship between AoD and the risk of 12-month mortality. For the AoD range of 23 to 37, there was no association with the risk of cardiac mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.62-1.04]. In the AoD range of 37-49, however, the risk of 12-month cardiac death increased by approximately 70% for every 1 mm increase in AoD (OR 1.70, 95% CI, 1.13-2.55). When all-cause death was chosen as the outcome, the same outcome was shown. Conclusion: An AoD larger than 37 mm is a hazardous threshold for Chinese HF patients. Beyond this limit increased the risk of cardiac death by 70% for every 1 mm increase in AoD.