Heart rate recovery predicts sudden cardiac death in heart failure

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the ability of heart rate recovery (HRR) to predict mortality secondary to pump failure or sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with heart failure (HF). Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed a significant difference in survival for both SCD (100% vs. 73.9%, log-rank: 50.5, p < 0.001) and pump failure (96.1% vs. survival = 78.4%, log-rank: 24.4, p < 0.001) endpoints according to a </≥ 17 bpm HRR threshold. The results of the present study indicate HRR is a significant predictor of both SCD and pump failure mortality in patients with HF although its ability to predict SCD was superior.