Association of diastolic dysfunction and outcomes in ambulatory older adults with chronic heart failure

Prognostic impact of systolic blood pressure in acute heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in older patients

Aims

Recent guidelines recommend a systolic blood pressure (SBP) target below 130 mmHg in heart failure patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), whatever their age. We investigated whether this intensive SBP control was associated with better survival in very old adults hospitalized for acute HFpEF.

Methods and results

We conducted an observational study in an acute geriatric unit: all consecutive patients discharged from hospital for acute heart failure from 1 March 2019 to 29 February 2020 with a diagnosis of HFpEF were included. Re‐hospitalization and all‐cause mortality at 1 year were compared according to the mean SBP at discharge (patients with a mean SBP < 130 mmHg vs. those with SBP ≥ 130 mmHg). We included 81 patients with a mean age of 89 years. Among them, 47 (58%) were re‐hospitalized and 37 (46%) died at 1 year. All‐cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] [95% confidence interval]: 1.50 [0.75–2.98], P = 0.2) and re‐hospitalization rate (HR: 1.04 [0.58–1.86], P = 0.90) at 1 year did not significantly differ between patients with SBP ≥ 130 mmHg and those with SBP < 130 mmHg at discharge. However, a prescription for antihypertensive drugs at discharge was associated with a better long‐term prognosis (all‐cause mortality: HR: 0.42 [0.20–0.88], P = 0.02; re‐hospitalization rate: HR: 0.56 [0.28–1.10], P = 0.09).

Conclusions

Although SBP < 130 mmHg at discharge was not associated with a better prognosis among very old patients hospitalized for acute HFpEF, the prescription of antihypertensive drugs was associated with mortality and re‐hospitalization rates that were reduced by half. Future prospective studies are needed to assess target blood pressure in very elderly patients with HFpEF.

Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure in Older Adults

Aging is characterized by heterogeneity, both in health and illness. Older adults with heart failure often have preserved ejection fraction and atypical and delayed clinical manifestations. After diagnosis of heart failure is established, a cause should be sought. The patient's comorbidities may provide clues. An elevated jugular venous pressure is the most reliable clinical sign of fluid volume overload and should be carefully evaluated. Left ventricular ejection fraction must be determined to assess prognosis and guide therapy. These 5 steps, namely, diagnosis, etiologic factor, fluid volume, ejection fraction, and therapy for heart failure may be memorized by mnemonic: DEFEAT-HF.

Role of estrogen in diastolic dysfunction

The prevalence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) sharply increases in women after menopause and may lead to heart failure. While evidence suggests that estrogens protect the premenopausal heart from hypertension and ventricular remodeling, the specific mechanisms involved remain elusive. Moreover, whether there is a protective role of estrogens against cardiovascular disease, and specifically LVDD, continues to be controversial. Clinical and basic science have implicated activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), linked to the loss of ovarian estrogens, in the pathogenesis of postmenopausal diastolic dysfunction. As a consequence of increased tissue ANG II and low estrogen, a maladaptive nitric oxide synthase (NOS) system produces ROS that contribute to female sex-specific hypertensive heart disease. Recent insights from rodent models that mimic the cardiac phenotype of an estrogen-insufficient or -deficient woman (e.g., premature ovarian failure or postmenopausal), including the ovariectomized congenic mRen2.Lewis female rat, provide evidence showing that estrogen modulates the tissue RAAS and NOS system and related intracellular signaling pathways, in part via the membrane G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30; also called G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1). Complementing the cardiovascular research in this field, the echocardiographic correlates of LVDD as well as inherent limitations to its use in preclinical rodent studies will be briefly presented. Understanding the roles of estrogen and GPR30, their interactions with the local RAAS and NOS system, and the relationship of each of these to LVDD is necessary to identify new therapeutic targets and alternative treatments for diastolic heart failure that achieve the cardiovascular benefits of estrogen replacement without its side effects and contraindications.

Mutation of the protein kinase I alpha leucine zipper domain produces hypertension and progressive left ventricular hypertrophy: a novel mouse model of age-dependent hypertensive heart disease

Hypertensive heart disease causes significant mortality in older patients, yet there is an incomplete understanding of molecular mechanisms that regulate age-dependent hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that the cGMP-dependent protein kinase G I alpha (PKGIα) attenuates hypertensive LVH by evaluating the cardiac phenotype in mice with selective mutations of the PKGIα leucine zipper domain. These leucine zipper mutant (LZM) mice develop basal hypertension. Compared with wild-type controls, 8-month-old adult LZM mice developed increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure but without frank LVH. In advanced age (15 months), the LZM mice developed overt pathological LVH. These findings reveal a role of PKGIα in normally attenuating hypertensive LVH. Therefore, mutation of the PKGIα LZ domain produces a clinically relevant model for hypertensive heart disease of aging.

Renin-angiotensin inhibition in diastolic heart failure and chronic kidney disease

BACKGROUND

The role of renin-angiotensin inhibition in older patients with diastolic heart failure and chronic kidney disease remains unclear.

METHODS

Of the 1340 patients (age ≥65 years) with diastolic heart failure (ejection fraction ≥45%) and chronic kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2)), 717 received angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers. Propensity scores for the use of these drugs, estimated for each of the 1340 patients, were used to assemble a cohort of 421 pairs of patients, receiving and not receiving these drugs, who were balanced on 56 baseline characteristics.

RESULTS

During more than 8 years of follow-up, all-cause mortality occurred in 63% and 69% of matched patients with chronic kidney disease receiving and not receiving angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, respectively (hazard ratio [HR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70-0.97; P = .021). There was no association with heart failure hospitalization (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.82-1.18; P = .816). Similar mortality reduction (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.66-0.995; P = .045) occurred in a subgroup of matched patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 45 mL/min/1.73 m(2). Among 207 pairs of propensity-matched patients without chronic kidney disease, the use of these drugs was not associated with mortality (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.80-1.33; P = .826) or heart failure hospitalization (HR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.76-1.30; P = .946).

CONCLUSIONS

A discharge prescription for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers was associated with a significant reduction in all-cause mortality in older patients with diastolic heart failure and chronic kidney disease, including those with more advanced chronic kidney disease.

Effect of chronic disease-related symptoms and impairments on universal health outcomes in older adults

OBJECTIVES

To determine the extent to which disease-related symptoms and impairments, which constitute measures of disease severity or targets of therapy, account for the associations between chronic diseases and universal health outcomes.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) and the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study (Health ABC).

PARTICIPANTS

Five thousand six hundred fifty-four CHS members and 2,706 Health ABC members.

MEASUREMENTS

Diseases included heart failure (HF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), osteoarthritis, and cognitive impairment. The universal health outcomes included self-rated health, basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs and IADLs), and death. Disease-related symptoms and impairments included HF symptoms and ejection fraction (EF) for HF, Dyspnea Scale and forced expiratory volume in 1 second for COPD, joint pain for osteoarthritis, and executive function for cognitive impairment.

RESULTS

The diseases were associated with the universal health outcomes (P<.001) except osteoarthritis with death (both cohorts) and cognitive impairment with self-rated health (Health ABC). Symptoms and impairments accounted for 30% or more of each disease's effect on the universal health outcomes. In CHS, for example, HF was associated with one fewer (0.918) ADL and IADL performed without difficulty than no HF; HF symptoms accounted for 27% of this effect and EF for only 5%. The hazard ratio for death with HF was 6.5 (95% confidence interval=4.7-8.9) with EF accounting for 40% and HF symptoms for only 14%.

CONCLUSION

Disease-related symptoms and impairments accounted for much of the significant associations between the four chronic diseases and the universal health outcomes. Results support considering universal health outcomes as common metrics across diseases in clinical decision-making, perhaps by targeting the disease-related symptoms and impairments that contribute most strongly to the effect of the disease on the universal health outcomes.

Chronic heart failure in older adults

Assessment and management of heart failure (HF) in older adults may be simplified and structured by the mnemonic DEFEAT-HF: Diagnosis, Etiology, Fluid volume, Ejection fraction, And Treatment of Heart Failure. A clinical diagnosis and etiology of HF can often be established during history and physical examination. Fluid volume status must be assessed by estimating jugular venous pressure in centimeters of water by identifying the top of the jugular venous pulsation in the neck and estimating its vertical height from the right atrium. Left ventricular ejection fraction must be obtained to classify patients into systolic and diastolic HF and to guide evidence-based therapy.

Clinical assessment of heart failure: utility of symptoms, signs, and daily weights

Heart failure is a clinical syndrome defined by the presence of characteristic signs and symptoms. History taking and physical examination have particular utility in assessing patients who have heart failure. In recent years the validity of conventional signs and symptoms of heart failure has been tested in large population studies and in clinical trials, providing an evidence basis for their utility in the clinical assessment of the patient who has known or suspected heart failure. There also has been progress in characterizing the process of acute decompensation from a previously chronic stable state. This article addresses the usefulness of signs and symptoms and daily weights in the assessment and management of patients who have heart failure.

DEFEAT - Heart Failure: a guide to management of geriatric heart failure by generalist physicians

Over 80% of all heart failure patients are 65 years and older. The diagnosis and management of heart failure in older adults can be challenging. However, with the correct clinical skill and experience, most geriatric heart failure can be properly diagnosed and managed. Management of geriatric heart failure can be simplified by following this useful mnemonic: DEFEAT Heart Failure. This covers the essential aspects of geriatric heart failure management: Diagnosis, Etiology, Fluid, Ejection fraAction, and Treatment. The process begins with a clinical Diagnosis, which must be established, before ordering an echocardiogram, as nearly half of all geriatric heart failure patients have normal left ventricular ejection fraction. Because heart failure is a syndrome and not a disease, an underlying Etiology must be sought and determined. Determination of the Fluid volume status by careful examination of the external jugular veins in the neck is vital to achieve euvolemia. An echocardiography should be ordered to obtain left ventricular Ejection frAction to assess prognosis and guide Therapy. However, if left ventricular ejection fraction cannot be determined, as in many developing nations, all geriatric heart failure patients should be treated as if they have low ejection fraction, and should be prescribed an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and a beta-blocker. Diuretic and digoxin should be prescribed for all symptomatic patients with heart failure. An aldosterone antagonist may be used in select patients with advanced systolic heart failure, carefully avoiding hyperkalemia.

DEFEAT heart failure: assessment and management of heart failure in nursing homes made easy

Heart failure (HF) in older adults presents challenges that are different in many ways than those for younger adults. Diagnosis of HF in older adults can be delayed due to attributing early symptoms to normal changes of aging or, in the setting of a normal ejection fraction, failing to appreciate diastolic heart failure. Moreover, treatment of HF in the elderly is often complicated by comorbidities and polypharmacy. The long-term care setting can present even more challenges, yet can be made easy by following a simple mnemonic DEFEAT-HF. After making a clinical Diagnosis and determining the Etiology, Fluid volume must be assessed to achieve euvolemia, and Ejection frAction must be determined to guide Therapy.

DEFEAT heart failure: clinical manifestations, diagnostic assessment, and etiology of geriatric heart failure

Aging is characterized by heterogeneity, both in health and in disease. Older adults who have heart failure (HF) often have atypical and delayed clinical manifestations and many have diastolic HF. The assessment and management of HF in older adults may be simplified by a 5-step process called DEFEAT HF: (1) establish a clinical Diagnosis of HF; (2) establish an Etiology for HF, preferably in collaboration with a cardiologist; (3) determine Fluid status and achieve euvolemia; (4) determine left ventricular Ejection frAction; and (5) provide evidence-based Therapy.

Clinical manifestations, diagnostic assessment, and etiology of heart failure in older adults

Aging is characterized by heterogeneity, both in health and in dis-ease. Older adults who have heart failure (HF) often have a typical and delayed clinical manifestations and many have diastolic HF. The assessment and management of HF in older adults may be simplified by a 5-step process called DEFEAT HF: (1) Establish a clinical Diagnosis of HF; (2) Establish an Etiology for HF, preferably in collaboration with a cardiologist; (3) Determine Fluid status and achieve euvolemia; (4) Determine left ventricular Ejection frAction; and (5) Provide evidence-based Therapy.

Hospitalizations due to unstable angina pectoris in diastolic and systolic heart failure

Patients with diastolic heart failure (HF), i.e., clinical HF with normal or near normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), may develop unstable angina pectoris (UAP) due to epicardial atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and/or to subendocardial ischemia, even in the absence of coronary artery disease. However, the risk of UAP in ambulatory patients with diastolic HF has not been well studied. We examined incident hospitalizations due to UAP in 916 patients with diastolic HF (LVEF >45%) without significant valvular heart disease and 6,800 patients with systolic HF (LVEF <or=45%) in the Digitalis Investigation Group trial. During a 38-month median follow-up, 12% of patients (797 of 6,800) with systolic HF (incidence rate 435 per 10,000 person-years) and 15% of patients (138 of 916) with diastolic HF (incidence rate 536 per 10,000 person-years) were hospitalized for UAP (adjusted hazard ratio for diastolic HF 1.22, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02 to 1.47, p = 0.032). There was a graded increase in incident hospital admissions for UAP with increasing LVEF. Hospitalizations for UAP occurred in 11% (520 of 4,808, incidence rate 407 per 10,000 person-years), 14% (355 of 2,556, incidence rate 496 per 10,000 person-years), and 17% (60 of 352, incidence rate 613 per 10,000 person-years) of patients with HF, respectively, with LVEF values <35%, 35% to 55%, and >55%. Compared with patients with HF and an LVEF <35%, the adjusted hazard ratios for UAP hospitalization in those with LVEF values 35% to 55% and >55% were, respectively, 1.17 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.34, p = 0.028) and 1.57 (95% CI 1.20 to 2.07, p = 0.026). In conclusion, in ambulatory patients with chronic HF, a higher LVEF was associated with increased risk of hospitalizations due to UAP. As in patients with systolic HF, those with diastolic HF should be routinely evaluated for myocardial ischemia and managed accordingly.

Effects of digoxin on morbidity and mortality in diastolic heart failure: the ancillary digitalis investigation group trial

BACKGROUND

About half of the 5 million heart failure patients in the United States have diastolic heart failure (clinical heart failure with normal or near-normal ejection fraction). Except for candesartan, no drugs have been tested in randomized clinical trials in these patients. Although digoxin was tested in an appreciable number of diastolic heart failure patients in the Digitalis Investigation Group ancillary trial, detailed findings from this important study have not previously been published.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Ambulatory chronic heart failure patients (n = 988) with normal sinus rhythm and ejection fraction > 45% (median, 53%) from the United States and Canada (1991 to 1993) were randomly assigned to digoxin (n = 492) or placebo (n = 496). During follow-up with a mean length of 37 months, 102 patients (21%) in the digoxin group and 119 patients (24%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63 to 1.07; P = 0.136) experienced the primary combined outcome of heart failure hospitalization or heart failure mortality. Digoxin had no effect on all-cause or cause-specific mortality or on all-cause or cardiovascular hospitalization. Use of digoxin was associated with a trend toward a reduction in hospitalizations resulting from worsening heart failure (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.59 to 1.04; P = 0.094) but also a trend toward an increase in hospitalizations for unstable angina (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.91; P = 0.061).

CONCLUSIONS

In ambulatory patients with chronic mild to moderate diastolic heart failure and normal sinus rhythm receiving angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and diuretics, digoxin had no effect on natural history end points such as mortality and all-cause or cardiovascular hospitalizations.