Impaired pulmonary function is a risk predictor for sudden cardiac death in men

Figures & data

Table I. Baseline demographic characteristics among men with and without sudden cardiac death.

	SCD (95 men)	Others (1155 men)	P value for difference
Age, years	54.7 (5.9)	51.4 (6.6)	< 0.001
Body weight, kg	81.3 (12.4)	80.2 (11.4)	0.124
FEV1 (%)	87.6 (14.2)	97.3 (16.7)	0.091
FVC (%)	85.8 (13.6)	93.9 (15.3)	0.277
FEV1/FVC ratio (%)	81.7 (8.3)	82.6 (8.1)	0.804
Body mass index, m^2	27.5 (3.9)	26.6 (3.4)	0.066
C-reactive protein, mg/L	3.7 (6.7)	2.3 (4.3)	0.015
Cigarette pack-years of smoking ^a	14.9 (22.9)	7.4 (14.8)	< 0.001
Alcohol consumption, g/week	91.3 (138.0)	80.6 (132.7)	0.321
Systolic blood pressure, mmHg	137.6 (18.7)	132.3 (16.2)	0.048
Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg	89.4 (10.4)	88.0 (10.4)	0.309
Serum total cholesterol, mmol/L	6.07 (1.03)	5.78 (1.03)	0.692
Serum LDL-cholesterol, mmol/L	4.01 (0.90)	3.88 (0.94)	0.724
Serum HDL-cholesterol, mmol/L	1.19 (0.25)	1.29 (0.31)	0.020
Serum triglycerides mmol/L	1.83 (1.26)	1.37 (0.86)	< 0.001
Maximal oxygen uptake, mL/kg/min ^b	25.5 (6.8)	31.4 (7.4)	0.641
Maximal oxygen uptake, mL/min ^b	1983.3 (608.0)	2518.1 (664.9)	0.456

^aPack-years denotes the lifelong exposure to smoking which was estimated as the product of years smoked and the number of tobacco products smoked daily at the time of examination.

^bCardiorespiratory fitness was defined as the highest value or the plateau of oxygen uptake during the exercise testing.

HDL = high-density lipoprotein; LDL = low-density lipoprotein.

Table II. Forced expiratory volume (percentage) and the risk of sudden cardiac death among 1250 men.

	Sudden cardiac death (95 deaths) ^a
Forced expiratory volume (%)	Relative risk ^b	P value	Incidence (cases/1000 person years)
Quintile 1 (FEV1 0%–20%)
Age-adjusted	5.64 (2.32–13.71)	< 0.001	8.3/1000 y
Multivariable-adjusted	3.24 (1.32–7.95)	0.010
Quintile 2 (FEV1 > 20%–40%)
Age-adjusted	4.78 (1.98–11.33)	< 0.001	6.0/1000 y
Multivariable-adjusted	3.41 (1.40–8.30)	0.006
Quintile 3 (FEV1 > 40%–59%)
Age-adjusted	3.22 (1.27–8.10)	0.013	3.6/1000 y
Multivariable-adjusted	2.91 (1.15–7.38)	0.024
Quintile 4 (FEV1 60%–80%)
Age-adjusted	1.73 (0.64–4.68)	0.279	1.9/1000 y
Multivariable-adjusted	1.48 (0.54–4.04)	0.439
Quintile 5, reference (FEV1 > 80%)	1.00 (reference)		1.0/1000 y

^a Sudden cardiac death was defined as the arrest having occurred within 24 hours after onset of any symptoms.

^b Relative risks are adjusted for age, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, serum low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, body mass index, C-reactive protein, previous myocardial infarction, and cardiorespiratory fitness.

Figure 1. Kaplan–Meier survival curves estimates according to the quintiles of forced expiratory volume.