From Emergency Department to clinic center: management of patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction

Abstract

Aims: primary outcomes - cardiovascular and all-cause mortality evaluation within 1 year in elderly patients enrolled with Angiotensin Receptor Inhibitor (ARNI) and/or Sodium Glucose Co-Transporter Type 2 Inhibitors (SGLT2-i) in an Internal Medicine Department; recurrent hospitalization assessment for acute Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF); length of hospitalization analysis compared to not-enrolled patients. Secondary endpoints - to identify any parameters predicting the length of hospitalization; safety assessment through the incidence of complications and treatment interruption. Materials and Methods: prospective observational real-life cohort study that analyzes the recruitment during hospitalization and follow-up 3-6-12 months after discharge. Several clinical parameters were recorded for each patient of any ethnicity, considering a diagnosis of acute HFrEF with NT-proBNP and chest x-ray. Results: the enrolled group (34 patients) showed a hospitalization period lower than the not-enrolled one. The rehospitalizations percentage was inferior to Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs) for ARNI. Cardiovascular-cause mortality, symptomatic hypotension, and Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) were lower than RCTs data. Age, eGFR, NT-proBNP, Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS), and severe comorbidities, except for EF, predicted the lengthening of hospitalization. Hypoglycemia wasn’t recorded. Conclusions: ARNI/SGLT2-i are effective and safe in elderly patients. Comorbidities and bio-humoral features influence HFrEF and quality of life. The future aim is to confirm the results obtained so far.