A heart timing marker is linked to higher heart failure risk
Over a median of 5.0 years, people with an elevated ratio had a hazard ratio of 2.33 for cardiovascular events compared with those with a low ratio.
Limit: All participants had at least one cardiovascular risk factor
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational cohort study evaluated 4,665 participants with a mean age of 69 years, 52% male, who had at least one cardiovascular risk factor. Researchers measured the pre-ejection period, the delay before pumping, and the ejection time, the duration of pumping, using an automated device. Participants were grouped by a ratio cutoff of 0.425.
During a median follow-up of 5.0 years, 223 combined cardiovascular events and 65 heart failure hospitalizations occurred. The combined outcome included stroke, coronary heart disease, sudden death, heart failure and aortic dissection—a tear in the body's main artery. After adjustment for other factors, the high-ratio group had hazard ratios of 2.33 for combined events and 3.94 for heart failure hospitalization compared with the low-ratio group. In 415 participants assessed by heart ultrasound, the percentage of blood pumped out of the heart's main pumping chamber per beat was lower in the high-ratio group.
Why it matters
The researchers suggested that the timing ratio may help identify hidden heart failure, particularly in people whose blood level of a marker of heart strain was below 300 picograms per milliliter.
Caveats
This observational study found associations, not cause and effect, in people with at least one cardiovascular risk factor. The report is an ESC Congress 2026 abstract.
The paper
PEP/ET Ratio as a novel marker of subclinical heart failure and long term cardiovascular risk
