A retrospective cohort study published in Clinical Cardiology included 8,790 patients with at least one heart failure hospitalization or emergency department visit between April 2008 and March 2016 and at least two echocardiograms separated by 6 months or more. The mean age was 70.9 ± 14.5 years, and 56.1% were male. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality, heart failure hospitalization, and emergency department visits for heart failure.

The identified mortality-associated thresholds for changes in left ventricular end-systolic dimension and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension were −3.13% and 1.33%, respectively. Ischemic cardiomyopathy and lower left ventricular ejection fraction were associated with a higher likelihood of changes exceeding these thresholds. Changes above the respective thresholds were associated with the composite outcome (hazard ratios, 1.13…