A UCLA-led study in collaboration with Harvard and Oxford University researchers has revealed a new way to predict which patients with "stable" heart failure - those who have heart injury but do not require hospitalisation - have a higher risk of dying within one to three years.
Although people with stable heart failure have similar characteristics, some have rapid disease progression while others remain stable. The research shows that patients who have higher levels of neuropeptide Y, a molecule released by the nervous system, are 10 times more likely to die within one to three years than those with lower levels of neuropeptides.
The UCLA-led paper, published in JAMA Cardiology, is in collaboration with DPAG researchers, with Associate Professor Neil Herring as senior author.
The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the British Heart Foundation.
More information can be found on the UCLA website.
The full paper "Coronary Sinus Neuropeptide Y Levels and Adverse Outcomes in Patients With Stable Chronic Heart Failure" is available to read in JAMA Cardiology.
