New Drugs and Devices in the Pipeline for Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction Versus Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

An introduction to health technology assessment and health economic evaluation: an online self-learning course

Cardiovascular diseases impose an enormous burden on patients and society. New health technologies promise to lower this burden; however, novel treatments often come at a high cost. In the Netherlands, health technology assessment (HTA) is increasingly being used to inform policy bodies about the optimal distribution of scarce healthcare resources and to guide decision-making about financing and reimbursement. In particular, economic evaluations, as one pillar of HTA, are frequently used to compare the costs and effects of different interventions. This paper aims to define HTA and its relevance to healthcare policy as well as providing a comprehensive overview of the methodology of economic evaluations targeting health professionals and researchers with limited prior knowledge of this subject. Accordingly, different types of economic evaluations are introduced, together with their respective costs and outcomes. Further, the results of economic evaluations are explained, along with techniques for performing them and methods for coping with uncertainty. In addition to this paper-based learning format, each chapter is complemented by a video lecture with further information and practical examples, helping to better understand and analyse health economic studies.

A Prospective, Multicenter, Post-Marketing Surveillance Study to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of Tolvaptan in Patients with Reduced, Preserved, and Mid-Range Ejection Fraction Heart Failure

Tolvaptan, a vasopressin V₂ receptor antagonist, is approved in Japan for the treatment of fluid retention in patients with heart failure (HF), and in the United States for hyponatremia. The efficacy and safety of tolvaptan in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) have been demonstrated previously. However, its efficacy in patients with HF having preserved (HFpEF) and mid-range (HFmrEF) ejection fraction (EF) remains uncertain. The present subgroup analysis from the post-marketing surveillance SMILE Study aims to explore the efficacy and safety of tolvaptan across the HF subgroups (HFrEF, HFpEF, and HFmrEF).Patients with HF accompanied by fluid retention who received tolvaptan were enrolled. Primary endpoints were: change in body weight, 24-hour urine volume, congestive symptoms, and safety over 14-day treatment. Of the 3,349 patients enrolled, left ventricular EF data were available for 1,741 patients; 45.7% had HFpEF. Tolvaptan treatment resulted in body weight reduction and increases in 24-hour urine volume across the 3 subgroups. Congestive symptoms significantly improved over the 14-day treatment in all subgroups. The frequency of adverse events (AEs) was comparable across the subgroups; thirst was the most common AE.Tolvaptan provides a safe and effective option for treating fluid retention in patients with HFpEF, as well as HFmrEF and HFrEF.

Challenges and Future Directions in Left Ventricular Assist Device Therapy

The clinical use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) in the growing epidemic of heart failure has improved quality of life and long-term survival for this otherwise devastating disease. The current generation of commercially available devices offers a smaller profile that simplifies surgical implantation, a design that optimizes blood flow characteristics, with less adverse events and improved durability than their predecessors. Despite this, the risk for adverse events remains significant, as do burdens for patients and their caregivers. Appropriate patient selection remains key to optimal LVAD outcomes.

Effect of Cigarette Smoking on Risk for Adverse Events in Patients With Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction

Smoking is an important risk factor in the development of heart failure with preserved ejection (HFpEF), and previous reports have identified smoking as a significant predictor of death in this population. However, the relation between smoking and heart failure-specific outcomes has not been examined in patients with HFpEF. This analysis included 1,717 patients (mean age = 71 ± 10 years; 50% men; 78% white) with HFpEF enrolled in the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist Trial from the Americas. Smoking was ascertained by self-reported history and categorized as never, former, or current. Multivariable Cox regression was used to examine the risk of hospitalization for heart failure, death, and cardiovascular death across smoking categories. There were 116 current smokers (7%), 871 former smokers (51%), and 729 never smokers (42%) in this analysis. Current smoking was associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for heart failure (never: hazard ratio [HR] 1.0; former: HR 1.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.99 to 1.57; current: HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.61), death (never: HR 1.0; former: HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.29; current: HR 1.82, 95% CI 1.19 to 2.78), and cardiovascular death (never: HR 1.0; former: HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.35; current: HR 1.85, 95% CI 1.09 to 3.24) compared with former or never smokers in a multivariable model adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors. A similar increased risk of hospitalization for heart failure (former: HR 1.0; current: HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.01, 2.36), death (former: HR 1.0; current: HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.19, 2.75), and cardiovascular death (former: HR 1.0; current: HR 1.76, 95% CI 1.04, 2.98) was observed for current smokers when we limited the analysis to those with a history of smoking. In conclusion, current smoking is associated with an increased risk for adverse outcomes in HFpEF, including hospitalization for heart failure. Smoking cessation strategies possibly have a role to reduce the risk for adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with HFpEF.

Histamine H2 Receptor Antagonists, Left Ventricular Morphology, and Heart Failure Risk: The MESA Study

BACKGROUND

Myocardial H2 receptor activation may promote cardiac fibrosis and apoptosis in pre-clinical models and histamine H2 receptor antagonist (H2RA) use may improve symptoms in participants with heart failure (HF); however, relationships between H2RA use, incident HF, and longitudinal change in left ventricular (LV) morphology are not known.

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to determine whether H2RA use is associated with incident HF and change in LV morphology over time.

METHODS

We included 6,378 men and women from MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis), a multicenter prospective observational cohort of participants without cardiovascular disease at baseline. Cox proportional hazards were used to estimate the association between H2RA use and incident HF in adjusted models. In participants with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, associations between H2RA use, baseline LV morphology (n = 4,691), and longitudinal change in the LV (n = 2,806) were estimated using linear regression.

RESULTS

H2RAs were used by 313 participants but not by the other 6,065 individuals. During a median follow-up of 11.2 years, 236 participants developed HF. In adjusted models, baseline H2RA use relative to nonuse was associated with 62% lower risk for incident HF (p = 0.02). H2RA use was associated with preserved stroke volume, LV end-diastolic volume, and mass/volume ratio as measured by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging over approximately 10 years (all p < 0.05). There were no associations between H2RA use and LV mass or ejection fraction.

CONCLUSIONS

H2RA use was associated with reduced risk for incident HF. Left heart morphology over time suggests less age-related change in H2RA users. These associations suggest histamine signaling may be important in the pathogenesis of HF. (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis [MESA]; NCT00005487).