Statistical analysis
Continuous variables are reported as mean value ± standard deviation or
median and interquartile ranges
(25th–75th percentiles) if
appropriate. The normality of distribution was tested with the
D’Agostino-Pearson omnibus normality test. Categorical variables are
presented as absolute (n) and relative (%) frequencies. The one-way
ANOVA for multiple comparisons or the Kruskal-Wallis tests were used
depending on the presence or absence of normal distribution of
continuous variables. The Fisher-exact test was used for categorical
variables. The paired T-test was used to compare baseline and follow-up
continuous variables. A probability value of < 0.05 was
considered to be statistically significant. Statistical analysis was
performed using the GraphPad Prism version 6.02 for Windows (GraphPad
Software, La Jolla, California, USA).
Results We studied a cohort of 684 consecutive patients with recent-onset heart
failure (HF) and reduced LVEF ≤ 50% not caused by valvular or ischemic
heart disease. In total, 18 patients retrospectively fulfilled criteria
for TCM. The clinical characteristics of these patients were compared
with 496 patients with inflammatory cardiomyopathy (ICM) and with 170
patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).