Age old problem: heart failure treatment in elderly

Evaluation of diuretic efficiency of intravenous furosemide in patients with advanced heart failure in a heart failure clinic

INTRODUCTION

Diuretic efficiency (DE) is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in acute heart failure (HF) at long-term follow-up. The performance of DE in advanced HF and the outpatient scenario is unclear.

METHODS

Survival function analysis on a retrospective cohort of patients with advanced HF followed at the outpatient clinic of Hospital Universitario San Ignacio (Bogotá, Colombia) between 2017 and 2021. DE was calculated as the average of total diuresis in milliliters divided by the dose of IV furosemide in milligrams for each 6-h session, considering all the sessions in which the patient received levosimendan and IV furosemide. We stratified DE in high or low using the median value of the cohort as the cutoff value. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality and HF hospitalizations during a 12-month follow-up. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test were used to compare patients with high and low DE.

RESULTS

In all, 41 patients (66.5 ± 13.2 years old, 75.6% men) were included in the study, with a median DE of 24.5 mL/mg. In total, 20 patients were categorized as low and 21 as high DE. The composite outcome occurred more often in the high DE group (13 versus 5, log-rank test p = 0.0385); the all-cause mortality rate was 29.2% and was more frequent in the high DE group (11 versus 1, log-rank test p = 0.0026).

CONCLUSION

In patients with advanced HF on intermittent inotropic therapy, a high DE efficiency is associated with a higher risk of mortality or HF hospitalization in a 12-month follow-up period.

Patients characteristics and prognostic implications of type 2 diabetes mellitus in heart failure with preserved, mid-rang reduced and reduced ejection fraction

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is frequent in patients with heart failure (HF) and correlated with an increased morbidity and mortality. The features and outcomes of patients with and without T2DM, depending on the HF type (HF with preserved: HFpEF, mid-range: HFmrEF; and reduced ejection fraction: HFrEF), are inefficiently explored. Aim: To explore the impact of T2DM on clinical features and one-year overall mortality in patients with HFrEF, HFmrEF and HFpEF. Material and methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted, including patients with HF at the Department of Cardiology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade. The enrolment occurred between November 2018 and January 2019. The study outcome was one-year all-cause mortality. Results: Study included 242 patients (mean-age, 71 ± 13 years, men 57%). T2DM was present in 31% of patients. The proportion of T2DM was similar amid patients with HFrEF, HFmrEF, and HFpEF. Regardless of the HF type, patients with T2DM were probably older and had a higher prevalence of myocardial infarction, other types of coronary disorder or peripheral arterial disorder (all p < 0.001). Also, chronic kidney disease was more prevalent in T2DM (p < 0.001). In HFpEF, T2DM patients were commonly female, and usually had hypertension and atrial fibrillation (all p < 0.001). Estimated one-year total mortality rates were significantly higher in T2DM patients. It also emerged as a unique predictor of higher mortality in HFrEF (HR; 1.33; 95% CI; 1.34 - 2.00), HFmrEF (HR; 1.13; 95% CI; 1.0 - 1.24) and HFpEF (HR; 1.21; 95% CI; 1.09 - 1.56), all p < 0.05. Conclusion: Compared with non-diabetics, patients with HF and T2DM are older, with higher prevalence of comorbidities and greater one-year mortality, regardless of HF type. Heart failure is a unique predictor of mortality in all HF types in multivariate analysis. Considering the increased risk, T2DM requires meticulous screening/diagnosis and contemporary treatment to improve outcomes.