Relationship between left and right ventricular ejection fractions in chronic advanced systolic heart failure: insights from the BEST trial

Aims Abnormally low right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) is a predictor of poor outcomes in chronic heart failure (HF) patients with low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). However, little is known about the relationship between LVEF and RVEF in these patients. Methods and results Of the 2707 Beta-blocker Evaluation of Survival Trial (BEST) participants with ambulatory chronic HF, New York Heart Association class III–IV symptoms, and LVEF ≤35%, 2008 patients had gated-equilibrium radionuclide angiographic data on baseline LVEF and RVEF. Patients were categorized into quartiles by LVEF ≥29% (n= 507), 23–28% (n= 513), 17–22% (n= 538), and