Are drug-induced changes in left ventricular ejection fraction or volumes adequate surrogates for long-term natural history outcomes in heart failure?

1999 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
George V. Antonopoulos ◽  
Joseph Lau ◽  
Marvin A. Konstam ◽  
James E. Udelson
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Tysarowski ◽  
Rafael Nigri ◽  
Brijesh Patel ◽  
Giselle A Suero-Abreu ◽  
Balaji Pratap ◽  
...  

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice and is a significant risk factor for ischemic stroke and death. Digitalis has been used for more than 200 years to treat heart conditions, including AF, and its use remains controversial due to uncertain long-term morbidity and mortality. Methods: We conducted a cohort study of hospitalized patients with AF assessing the effects of digoxin on long-term all-cause mortality. Patients were divided into two groups: with and without heart failure (HF). We performed multivariable Cox regression analysis to assess hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality depending on digoxin treatment and used propensity score matching to adjust for differences in background characteristics between treatment groups. Results: Among 2179 consecutive patients hospitalized with AF, the median age was 73 ± 14, and 52.5% of patients were male, 49% had HF, and 18.8% were discharged on digoxin. Median left ventricular ejection fraction in the whole cohort was 60 (IQR 40-65). Among patients with HF, 34.5% had preserved, 17.3% had mid-range and 48.1% had reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. The mean follow-up time was 3 ± 2.05 years. In patients without HF there was a statistically significant increased mortality in the digoxin subgroup after propensity score matching (HR = 2.23, 95% CI 1.42-3.51, p < 0.001). In contrast, in patients with HF, there was no difference in mortality between the treatment groups (p = 0.92). Conclusions: Digoxin use in our study was associated with increased mortality in patients with AF and without concomitant HF.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Pittui ◽  
Caterina Dore ◽  
Irene Mameli ◽  
Angelo Scuteri ◽  
Marco Dettori ◽  
...  

The multidimensional prognostic index (MPI) is an accurate predictor of mortality validated in hospitalized older patients. Aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of the MPI in predicting shortand long-term mortality in patients with heart failure (HF), particularly in those with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF). The study population included all patients older than 65 years admitted in a Post-Acute Long-Care Unit from 2013 to 2018. Patients were divided into two groups: patients with HF (N=143) and patients without HF as controls (N=1254). Furthermore, patients affected by HF were subdivided according to echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), i.e. reduced, mid-range and preserved LVEF (respectively HFrEF, HFmrEF, HFpEF). All patients underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) to calculate the MPI based on information on functional, cognitive, nutritional and mobility status, comorbidity, poli-pharmacy and co-habitation. Mortality rates in the HF group was 46% in patients MPI-1 or MPI-2 groups versus 59% in patients included in the MPI- 3 group. In particular, of 32 HF patients with HFrEF 67.7% were in the MPI-3 class compared to 43% of 14 patients with HFmrEF group and to 41% of 63 patients with HFpEF. These findings suggest that MPI is a reliable predictor of mortality in HF patients and that it was particularly useful in the subgroup of patients with HFrEF.


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