Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesMeta-analysis

Body Composition and Survival in Patients With Heart Failure

JACC Heart FailPublished

  • Systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
  • random-effects model
  • Risk of bias assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa scale

Authors' conclusion

Muscular wasting, measured by low muscle mass, was associated with increased mortality, strengthening the role of muscle mass in HF prognosis. In contrast, higher fat mass and abdominal adiposity showed no association.

Study context

Population
Patients with heart failure (HF)
Participants
36,176 patients · 39 cohort studies
Comparison
Body composition parameters
Outcome
All-cause mortality

Pooled result

As reported in the abstract

Estimate (95% CI)
Low muscle massI2 = 47%; 7 studies
HR 1.73(1.32–2.26)
Elevated fat massI2 = 77%
pooled adjusted HR 0.75(0.26–2.12)

Further pooled results

Low muscle mass, sensitivity and subgroup analyses

Prognostic significance of low muscle mass remained consistent

Original publication

Body Composition and Survival in Patients With Heart Failure. JACC Heart Fail. Published 2 April 2025. doi:10.1016/j.jchf.2025.01.016

Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it