Use Of Heart Failure Therapies Research Articles

Use of medical therapy and risk of clinical events according to frailty in heart failure patients-A real-life cohort study.

Although recent randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the advantages of heart failure (HF) therapy in both frail and not frail patients, there is insufficient information on the use of HF therapy based on frailty status in a real-world setting. The aim was to examine how frailty status in HF patients associates with use of HF therapy and with clinical outcomes. Patients with new-onset HF between 2014 and 2021 were identified using the nationwide Danish registers. Patients across the entire range of ejection fraction were included. The associations between frailty status (using the Hospital Frailty Risk Score) and use of HF therapy and clinical outcomes (all-cause mortality, HF hospitalization, and non-HF hospitalization) were evaluated using multivariable-adjusted Cox models adjusting for age, sex, diagnostic setting, calendar year, comorbidities, pharmacotherapy, and socioeconomic status. Of 35 999 participants (mean age 69.1 years), 68% were not frail, 26% were moderately frail, and 6% were severely frail. The use of HF therapy was significantly lower in frailer patients. The hazard ratio (HR) for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker initiation was 0.74 (95% confidence interval 0.70-0.77) and 0.48 (0.43-0.53) for moderate frailty and severe frailty, respectively. For beta-blockers, the corresponding HRs were 0.74 (0.71-0.78) and 0.51 (0.46-0.56), respectively, and for mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, 0.83 (0.80-0.87) and 0.58 (0.53-0.64), respectively. The prevalence of death and non-HF hospitalization increased with frailty status. The HR for death was 1.55 (1.47-1.63) and 2.32 (2.16-2.49) for moderate and severe frailty, respectively, and the HR for non-HF hospitalization was 1.37 (1.32-1.41) and 1.82 (1.72-1.92), respectively. The association between frailty status and HF hospitalization was not significant (HR 1.08 [1.02-1.14] and 1.08 [0.97-1.20], respectively). In real-world HF patients, frailty was associated with lower HF therapy use and with a higher incidence of clinical outcomes including mortality and non-HF hospitalization.

Initiation of Medical Therapy for Heart Failure Patients According to Kidney Function: A Danish Nationwide Study.

Use of medical therapies for heart failure (HF) patients with moderate kidney dysfunction is low. We hypothesized that lack of initiation of HF therapy reflects the clinicians' reluctance in very elderly and frail patients more than kidney dysfunction itself. HF patients were identified from nationwide registers between 2014 and 2021. Information was obtained on eGFR, frailty status, and prescription of HF therapy. Patients were divided into three groups: normal kidney function (eGFR ≥ 60); moderate kidney dysfunction (GFR between 30 and 59); and severe kidney dysfunction (GFR < 30). Multivariate Cox models were used to study the association of eGFR, age, and frailty with use of HF therapy. Of the 42,320 HF patients included those with lower eGFR were significantly older and frailer (median age 74.3 years and 37.8% frail). The crude initiation rate of all three drug classes decreased with decreasing eGFR in a stepwise fashion. After adjusting for age and frailty status, initiation of MRA decreased with decreasing kidney function (moderate kidney function HR 0.80(95% CI 0.77-0.84) and severe kidney function HR 0.24(0.21-0.27)). After adjusting for age and frailty status, initiation of RAS inhibitor and BB was not significantly lower for moderate kidney dysfunction (HR 0.97(0.93-1.02), and HR 1.06(0.97-1.16, respectively)). Initiation of RAS inhibitor was significantly lower for patients with severe kidney dysfunction, HR 0.45(0.41-0.50), but not for BB initiation HR 1.09(1.05-1.14). In a real-world HF cohort, patients with moderate and severe kidney dysfunction were associated with reduced use of MRA irrespective of age and frailty. Reduced use of RASi was associated with severe kidney dysfunction, whereas for patients with moderate kidney dysfunction, reduced use was mainly driven by aging and frailty. Reduced use of BB seemed to be primarily explained by aging and frailty.

Age differences in contemporary treatment of patients with chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.

BackgroundElderly patients are underrepresented in clinical trials but comprise the majority of heart failure patients. Data on age-specific use of heart failure therapy are limited. The European Society of Cardiology heart failure guidelines provide no age-specific treatment recommendations. We investigated practice-based heart failure management in a large registry at heart failure outpatient clinics.Design and methodsWe studied 8351 heart failure with reduced ejection fraction patients at 34 Dutch outpatient clinics between 2013 and 2016. The mean age was 72.3 ± 11.8 years and we divided age into three categories: less than 60 years (13.9%); 60–74 years (36.0%); and 75 years and over (50.2%).ResultsElderly heart failure with reduced ejection fraction patients (≥75 years) received significantly fewer beta-blockers (77.8% vs. 84.2%), renin–angiotensin system inhibitors (75.2% vs. 89.7%), mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (50.6% vs. 59.6%) and ivabradine (2.9% vs. 9.3%), but significantly more diuretics (88.1% vs. 72.6%) compared to patients aged less than 60 years (Pfor all trends < 0.01). Moreover, the prescribed target dosages were significantly lower in elderly patients. Also, implantable cardioverter defibrillator (18.9% vs. 44.1%) and cardiac resynchronisation therapy device (14.6% vs. 16.7%) implantation rates were significantly lower in elderly patients. A similar trend in drug prescription was observed in patients with heart failure with mid-range ejection fraction as in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.ConclusionWith increasing age, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction patients less often received guideline-recommended medication prescriptions and also in a lower dosage. In addition, a lower percentage of implantable cardioverter defibrillator and cardiac resynchronisation therapy device implantation in elderly patients was observed.

Palliative Inotrope Therapy

The number of patients living with end-stage heart failure is steadily growing, and ambulatory intravenous inotropic support is increasingly offered as a palliative therapy. However, the optimal ways to initiate, manage, and discuss the risks and benefits of palliative inotropes in the current era of heart failure care are unclear. The initiation of palliative inotropes requires an understanding of clinical, psychosocial, and economic factors, as well as the changing risk-to-benefit calculus. While earlier studies suggested that outpatient inotrope therapy provided symptomatic benefit at the expense of reduced survival, recent data suggest that the survival of patients receiving chronic inotropes may be improving over time, perhaps owing to the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators, concurrent guideline-directed medical therapy, or lower doses of inotropes. The use of heart failure therapies, such as β-blockade, among patients receiving palliative inotropes is controversial but may be appropriate in select situations. The role of palliative inotropes is changing in tandem with advances in chronic heart failure care. However, there remains a profound lack of data and guidance on the effect of palliative inotropes on quality of life and mortality and little consensus on how this therapy can be optimally used in contemporary practice. This review provides a framework for the prescription and management of palliative inotropes, including a discussion of potential risks and benefits and a roadmap for how to initiate, maintain, and wean them.

Temporal Changes in Characteristics, Treatment and Outcomes of Heart Failure Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Findings From Melbourne Interventional Group Registry

Limited data exist on whether outcomes of patients with heart failure (HF) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have improved over time. The purpose of this study was to assess temporal trends in patient characteristics, treatment and outcomes of patients with HF undergoing PCI. Using data from the Melbourne Interventional Group (MIG), we evaluated temporal trends of procedure volume, major adverse cardiac events (MACE; a composite of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction and target vessel revascularisation) and rates of cardiovascular readmission, all-cause death and cardiovascular death in consecutive patients with HF undergoing PCI. Change over time was assessed by Box-Jenkins autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. Data from 1,604 patients were analysed. In our cohort, there were no significant changes in the number of procedures performed annually and patient characteristics between January 2005 and December 2014. Optimal use of HF therapy has improved over the study period. Planned clopidogrel therapy of more than 12 months increased in tandem with increasing use of drug-eluting stents (DES). Procedural success was high (≥90%). However, the rates of MACE, cardiovascular readmission, all-cause death and cardiovascular death remained unchanged throughout the study period. Clinical outcomes in HF patients undergoing PCI have remained unchanged despite improvement in medical technology and contemporary therapeutic measures.

Abstract 12707: HIV Infection and Heart Failure Outcomes in Women

Introduction: Women with HIV have an increased risk of incident heart failure (HF). Whether HF outcomes differ by HIV status in women has not been established. Methods: We performed a US health care system-based cohort study analyzing data from 1388 HIV-infected women initially matched 1:10 on age, race/ethnicity with uninfected women. The presence of HF was ascertained by ICD-9-CM codes and adjudicated by physicians blinded to HIV status. After adjudication, cohorts were re-matched 1:3 so that age, race/ethnicity would be similar in the final cohort. The primary outcome was incident HF hospitalization rate. Secondary outcomes included HF hospitalization length of stay, all cause and cardiovascular mortality. Results: The final HF cohort consisted of 34 HIV-infected and 102 uninfected women (mean age 59 years). There were no significant differences in the LVEF (54±15 vs. 52±14%, HIV+ vs. HIV-, p=0.48) or prevalence of HFrEF (EF&lt;50%) (29 vs. 35%, HIV+ vs. HIV-, p=0.67). HIV-infected women with HF had more cocaine use (23 vs. 6%, p=0.006), lower BMI (28±5 vs. 33±8 kg/m 2 , p=0.002), increased QRS (113±19 vs. 97±20 msec, p &lt;0.0001) and higher PASP (49±10 vs. 35±10 mmHg, p&lt;0.0001). Over a median follow-up of 5 years (IQR 4.0-7.5), HIV-infected women with HF had 2.5 times the rate of incident HF hospitalization, adjusted for age, HTN, DM, sleep apnea, CAD, ACE I/ARB and LVEF (HR: 2.5 (1.54-4.29), p&lt;0.0001) (Figure). HIV-infected women with HF also had an increased HF hospitalization length of stay (8 vs. 5 days, p&lt;0.001), and higher all-cause (53 vs. 21%, p&lt;0.001) and cardiovascular mortality (83 vs. 33%, p&lt;0.006). In sub-group analysis, HIV-infected women with HFrEF had lower use of guideline-recommended HF therapy (40 vs. 83%, p=0.01). Conclusions: As compared with matched uninfected women with HF, HIV-infected women with HF had a lower use of HF therapies, increased HF hospitalization rate, HF hospitalization length of stay, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Nitrates for the Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes, A Systematic Review.

Intravenous nitrates are widely used in the management of acute heart failure syndrome (AHFS) yet with lack of robust evidence to support their use. We therefore sought to analyze all randomized studies that evaluated the effects of nitrates on clinical outcomes in patients with AHFS. In total, 15 relevant trials comparing nitrates and alternative interventions in 1824 patients were identified. All but 3 were conducted before 1998. No trials demonstrated a beneficial effect on mortality, apart from 1 trial reporting a reduction in mortality, which was related to the time of treatment. Retrospective review suggests that there is a lack of data to draw any firm conclusions concerning the use of nitrates in patients with AHFS. More studies are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of these agents in the modern era of guideline-directed use of heart failure therapy.

Nitrates for the Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes

Intravenous nitrates are widely used in the management of acute heart failure syndrome (AHFS), yet with lack of robust evidence to support their use. We therefore sought to analyse all randomised studies that evaluated the effects of nitrates on clinical outcomes in patients with AHFS. In total, fifteen relevant trials comparing nitrates and alternative interventions in 1824 patients were identified. All but three were conducted before 1998. No trials demonstrated a beneficial effect on mortality, apart from one trial reporting a reduction in mortality, which was related to the time of treatment. Retrospective review suggests that there is a lack of data to draw any firm conclusions concerning the use of nitrates in patients with AHFS, which is surprising given the widespread use of nitrates. More studies are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of these agents in the modern era of guideline-directed use of heart failure therapy.

Recent Trends in the Incidence, Treatment, and Prognosis of Patients With Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation (the Worcester Heart Failure Study)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) are common cardiovascular diseases and the co-occurrence of AF and HF has been associated with reduced survival. Data are needed on the potentially changing trends in the characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of patients with acute decompensated HF (ADHF) and AF. The study population consisted of 9,748 patients hospitalized with ADHF at 11 hospitals in the Worcester, Massachusetts, metropolitan area during 4 study years (1995, 2000, 2002, and 2004). Of the 9,748 patients admitted with ADHF, 3,868 (39.7%) had a history of AF and 449 (4.6%) developed new-onset AF during hospitalization. The rates of new-onset AF remained stable (4.9% in 1995; 5.0% in 2004), but the proportion of patients with pre-existing AF (34.5% in 1995; 41.6% in 2004) increased over time. New-onset and pre-existing AF were associated with older age, but pre-existing AF was more closely linked to a greater co-morbid disease burden. The use of HF therapies did not differ greatly by AF status. Despite this, new-onset AF was associated with a longer length of stay (7.5 vs 6.1 days) and greater in-hospital death rates (11.4% vs 6.6%). In contrast, pre-existing AF was associated with lower rates of postdischarge survival compared to patients with no AF (p <0.05 for all). The mortality rates improved significantly over time in patients with AF. In conclusion, AF was common among patients with ADHF, and the proportion of ADHF patients with co-occurring AF increased during the study period. Despite improving trends in survival, patients with ADHF and AF are at increased risk of in-hospital and postdischarge mortality.

Influence of documented history of coronary artery disease on outcomes in patients admitted for worsening heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in the EVEREST trial

Data on the prognosis of heart failure (HF) patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have been conflicting. We describe the clinical characteristics and mode-specific outcomes of HF patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF) and documented CAD in a large randomized trial. EVEREST was a prospective, randomized trial of vasopressin-2 receptor blockade, in addition to standard therapy, in 4133 patients hospitalized with worsening HF and reduced EF. Patients were classified as having CAD based on patient-reported myocardial infarction (MI) or coronary revascularization. We analysed the characteristics and outcomes [all-cause mortality and cardiovascular (CV) mortality/HF hospitalization] of patients with and without documented CAD. All events were centrally adjudicated. Documented CAD was present in 2353 patients (57%). Patients with CAD were older and had more co-morbidities compared with those without CAD. Patients with CAD were more likely to receive a beta-blocker, but less likely to receive an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or aldosterone antagonist (P < 0.01). After risk adjustment, patients with documented CAD had similar mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97-1.30], but were at an increased risk for CV mortality/HF hospitalization (HR 1.25, 95% CI 1.12-1.41) due to an increased risk for HF hospitalization (HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.10-1.44). Patients with CAD had increased HF- and MI-related events, but similar rates of sudden cardiac death. Documented CAD in patients hospitalized for worsening HF with reduced EF was associated with a higher burden of co-morbidities, lower use of HF therapies (except beta-blockers), and increased HF hospitalization, while all-cause mortality was similar.

The Impact of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Patients Hospitalized for Worsening Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: An Analysis of the EVEREST Trial

BackgroundChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is prevalent in heart failure (HF) patients, yet these patients are poorly characterized. We aimed to describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with systolic dysfunction and COPD in a contemporary HF randomized trial. Methods and ResultsEVEREST investigated 4,133 patients hospitalized with worsening HF and an ejection fraction (EF) ≤40%. We analyzed the characteristics and outcomes (all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality/HF hospitalization) of patients according to baseline COPD status. COPD was present in 10% (n = 416) of patients. Patients with COPD had a higher prevalence of comorbidities and were less likely to receive a β-blocker, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, or aldosterone antagonist. On univariate analysis, COPD was associated with increased all-cause mortality (HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.18–1.67) and cardiovascular mortality/HF hospitalization (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.11–1.49). After adjusting for potential confounders, the risk associated with COPD remained increased, but was not statistically significant. ConclusionThe presence of COPD in HF patients is associated with an increased burden of comorbidities, lower use of HF therapies, and a trend toward worse outcomes. These findings provide a starting point for prospective investigations of the treatment of HF comorbidities to reduce the high postdischarge event rates.