In stratified analyses, the association of GDF-15 with risk of all-cause mortality was found among chronic ischemic HF patients (HR:1.75, 95%CI: 1.24-2.48, <i>P</i> = 0.002), while the association was not found among chronic nonischemic HF patients (HR:1.01, 95%CI: 1.00-1.02, <i>P</i> = 0.219). Here, GDF15 is linked to hydrops fetalis.