Poor lung function may increase risk for sudden cardiac death
Modestly but measurably worse lung function may be a stronger predictor for sudden cardiac death than nonfatal coronary events, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress.
In a prospective analysis of 28,584 middle-aged adults with no cardiovascular history at baseline, a 1 standard deviation reduction in FEV1 was more strongly related to risk for sudden cardiac death (HR = 1.23; 95% CI, 1.15-1.31) compared with a nonfatal coronary event (HR = 1.08; 95% CI, 1.04-1.13; P = .002) over 40 years of follow-up, Suneela Zaigham, PhD, researcher in the department of clinical sciences and cardiovascular epidemiology at Lund University, Sweden, said during a presentation.
Researchers found a similar association for forced vital capacity, but not ratio of FEV1/FVC.
When Zaigham and colleagues carried out their analysis in lifelong never-smokers, the association remained; again, lower FEV1 was more strongly associated with future sudden cardiac death (HR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.15-1.55) than nonfatal coronary events (HR = 1.11; 95% CI, 1.02-1.21; P = .038), according to the results.
“Lower FEV1 is associated with both sudden cardiac death and nonfatal coronary events but is consistently more strongly associated with future sudden cardiac death,” Zaigham said. “We propose that measurement with spirometry in early life would aid in the risk stratification of future sudden cardiac death, and our results support the use of spirometry for cardiovascular risk assessment.”
The large, population-based, prospective cohort study enrolled middle-aged men and women in Sweden from the Malmö Preventive Project. All participants had baseline spirometry assessed and were followed for 4 decades for the incidence of sudden cardiac death or nonfatal coronary events.
The researchers plan to continue to evaluate whether sudden cardiac death can be prevented by testing lung function as part of current CV risk assessment, and will also further investigate the link between lung function and sudden cardiac death to determine whether heart abnormalities, variable blood pressure or genetic susceptibility to poorer lung function may be involved, according to a press release.