Vasodilators for Acute Heart Failure - A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Acute heart failure is a public health concern. This study systematically reviewed randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to evaluate vasodilators in acute heart failure. METHODS: The search was conducted across the databases of Medline, Embase, Latin American and the Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Inclusion criteria consisted of RCTs that compared vasodilators versus standard care, placebo, or cointerventions. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality; secondary outcomes were serious adverse events (SAEs), tracheal intubation, and length of hospital stay. Risk of bias was assessed in all trials. RESULTS: The study included 46 RCTs that enrolled 28,374 patients with acute heart failure. Vasodilators did not reduce the risk of all-cause mortality (risk ratio, 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87 to 1.04; I2=9.51%; P=0.26). No evidence of a difference was seen in the risk of SAEs (risk ratio, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.05; I2=0.94%) or length of hospital stay (mean difference, -0.10; 95% CI, -0.28 to 0.08; I2=69.84%). Vasodilator use was associated with a lower risk of tracheal intubation (risk ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.30 to 0.99; I2=51.96%) compared with no receipt of vasodilators. CONCLUSIONS: In this systematic review with meta-analysis of patients with acute heart failure, vasodilators did not reduce all-cause mortality.

Computed tomography or chest X-ray to assess pulmonary congestion in dyspnoeic patients with acute heart failure.

AIMS: While computed tomography (CT) is widely acknowledged as superior to chest radiographs for acute diagnostics, its efficacy in diagnosing acute heart failure (AHF) remains unexplored. This prospective study included consecutive patients with dyspnoea undergoing simultaneous low-dose chest CT (LDCT) and chest radiographs. Here, we aimed to determine if LDCT is superior to chest radiographs to confirm pulmonary congestion in dyspnoeic patients with suspected AHF. METHODS AND RESULTS: An observational, prospective study, including dyspnoeic patients from the emergency department. All patients underwent concurrent clinical examination, laboratory tests, echocardiogram, chest radiographs, and LDCT. The primary efficacy measure to compare the two radiological methods was conditional odds ratio (cOR). The primary outcome was adjudicated AHF, ascertained by comprehensive expert consensus. The secondary outcome, echo-bnp AHF, was an objective AHF diagnosis based on echocardiographic cardiac dysfunction, elevated cardiac filling pressure, loop diuretic administration, and NT-pro brain natriuretic peptide > 300 pg/mL. Of 228 dyspnoeic patients, 64 patients (28%) had adjudicated AHF, and 79 patients (35%) had echo-bnp AHF. Patients with AHF were older (78 years vs. 73 years), had lower left ventricular ejection fraction (36% vs. 55%), had higher elevated left ventricular filling pressures (98% vs. 18%), and had higher NT-pro brain natriuretic peptide levels (3628 pg/mL vs. 470 pg/mL). The odds to diagnose adjudicated AHF and echo-bnp AHF were up to four times greater using LDCT (cOR: 3.89 [2.15, 7.06] and cOR: 2.52 [1.45, 4.38], respectively). For each radiologic sign of pulmonary congestion, the LDCT provided superior or equivalent results as the chest radiographs, and the interrater agreement was higher using LDCT (kappa 0.88 [95% CI: 0.81, 0.95] vs. 0.73 [95% CI: 0.63, 0.82]). As first-line imaging modality, LDCT will find one additional adjudicated AHF in 12.5 patients and prevent one false-positive in 20 patients. Similar results were demonstrated for echo-bnp AHF. CONCLUSIONS: In consecutive dyspnoeic patients admitted to the emergency department, LDCT is significantly better than chest radiographs in detecting pulmonary congestion.

Remote dielectric sensing to detect acute heart failure in patients with dyspnoea: a prospective observational study in the emergency department.

Aims: Remote dielectric sensing (ReDS) enables quick estimation of lung fluid content. To examine if ReDS is superior to other methods in detecting acute heart failure. Methods and results: We included consecutive patients with dyspnoea from the emergency departments at Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, and performed ReDS, low-dose chest computed tomography (CT), echocardiogram, lung ultrasound, NT-Pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and a Boston score evaluation (chest X-ray and clinical signs). ReDS values >35% were used as a cut-off to diagnose pulmonary congestion. Acute heart failure was adjudicated by experts' review of health records but independently of ReDS values. Sub-analyses investigated ReDS in acute heart failure patients with congestion on CT. We included 97 patients within a median of 4.8 h from admittance: 25 patients (26%) were ReDS-positive and 39 (40%) had adjudicated acute heart failure (21 with and 18 without CT congestion). Heart failure patients had median ReDS 33%, left ventricular ejection fraction 48%, and NT-proBNP 2935 ng/L. A positive ReDS detected heart failure with 46% sensitivity, 88% specificity, and 71% accuracy. The AUC for ReDS was like the Boston score (P = 0.88) and the lung ultrasound score (P = 0.74). CT-congested heart failure patients had higher ReDS values than patients without heart failure (median 38 vs. 28%, P < 0.001). Heart failure patients without CT-congestion had ReDS values like patients without heart failure (mean 30 vs. 28%, P = 0.07). Conclusion: ReDS detects acute heart failure similarly to the Boston score and lung ultrasound score, and ReDS primarily identifies the acute heart failure patients who have congestion on a chest CT.

Blood Pressure Drops During Hospitalization for Acute Heart Failure Treated With Serelaxin: A Patient-Level Analysis of 4 Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND: Hypotensive events and drops in systolic blood pressure (SBP-drop) are frequent in patients hospitalized with acute heart failure. We investigated whether SBP-drops are associated with outcomes in patients treated with serelaxin. METHODS: Patient-level retrospective analyses of 4 prospective trials investigating serelaxin in acute heart failure. Main inclusion criteria were SBP 125 to 180 mm Hg, pulmonary congestion, and elevated NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide). SBP-drops were prospectively defined as SBP<100 mm Hg, or, if SBP remained >100 mm Hg, a drop from baseline of 40 mm Hg from baseline. Outcomes were a short-term composite outcome (worsening heart failure, hospital readmission for heart failure or all-cause mortality through 14 days) and 180-day mortality. RESULTS: Overall, 2559/11 226 (23%) patients had an SBP-drop. SBP-drop, versus no SBP-drop, was associated with a worse outcome: cumulative incidence of 180-day mortality (11% versus 9%, hazard ratio [HR]. 1.21 [95% CI, 1.05-1.39]; P=0.009) and the short-term outcome (11% versus 9%, HR, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.13-1.49]; P<0.001). Of the 2 SBP-drop components, an SBP<100 mm Hg was associated with the worst outcome compared with a 40 mm Hg drop: short-term outcome (11% versus 10%) and HRs of 1.32 (95% CI, 1.13-1.55; P=0.0005) and 1.22 (95% CI, 0.97-1.56; P=0.09), for each component respectively, with a P value for interaction of 0.05. SBP-drops were associated with a worse short-term outcome in the placebo group (HR, 1.46 [95% CI, 1.19-1.79]; P=0.0003), but not in the serelaxin-group (HR, 1.18 [95% CI, 0.97-1.42]; P=0.10); P interaction=0.003. CONCLUSIONS: SBP-drops in patients with acute heart failure and normal to high SBP at admission is associated with worse short- and long-term outcomes especially for SBP <100 mm Hg. However, in patients treated with the intravenous vasodilator serelaxin, SBP-drops seemed less harmful. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov; Unique identifiers: NCT02064868, NCT02007720, NCT01870778, NCT00520806.

Chest computed tomography features of heart failure: A prospective observational study in patients with acute dyspnea.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary congestion is a key component of heart failure (HF) that chest computed tomography (CT) can detect. However, no guideline describes which of many anticipated CT signs are most associated with HF in patients with undifferentiated dyspnea. METHODS: In a prospective observational single-center study, we included consecutive patients ≥ 50 years admitted with acute dyspnea to the emergency department. Patients underwent immediate clinical examination, blood sampling, echocardiography, and CT. Two radiologists independently evaluated all images. Acute HF (AHF) was adjudicated by an expert panel blinded to radiology images. LASSO and logistic regression identified the independent CT signs of AHF. RESULTS: Among 232 patients, 102 (44%) had AHF. Of 18 examined CT signs, 5 were associated with AHF (multivariate odds ratio, 95% confidence interval): enlarged heart (20.38, 6.86-76.16), bilateral interlobular thickening (11.67, 1.78-230.99), bilateral pleural effusion (6.39, 1.98-22.85), and increased vascular diameter (4.49, 1.08-33.92). Bilateral ground-glass opacification (2.07, 0.95-4.52) was a consistent fifth essential sign, although it was only significant in univariate analysis. Eighty-eight (38%) patients had none of the five CT signs corresponding to a 68% specificity and 86% sensitivity for AHF, while two or more of the five CT signs occurred in 68 (29%) patients, corresponding to 97% specificity and 67% sensitivity. A weighted score based on these five CT signs had an 0.88 area under the curve to detect AHF. CONCLUSIONS: Five CT signs seem sufficient to assess the risk of AHF in the acute setting. The absence of these signs indicates a low probability, one sign makes AHF highly probable, and two or more CT signs mean almost certain AHF.

Systolic Blood Pressure and Outcome in Patients Admitted With Acute Heart Failure: An Analysis of Individual Patient Data From 4 Randomized Clinical Trials.

BACKGROUND In acute heart failure (AHF), systolic blood pressure (SBP) is an important clinical variable. This study assessed the association between SBP and short-term and long-term outcomes in a large cohort of patients with AHF. METHODS AND RESULTS This is an analysis of 4 randomized controlled trials investigating serelaxin versus placebo in patients admitted with AHF and SBPs from 125 to 180 mm Hg. Outcomes were 180-day all-cause mortality and a composite end point of all-cause mortality, worsening heart failure, or hospital readmission for heart failure the first 14 days. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was examined as LVEF<40% and LVEF≥40%. Multivariable Cox regression models were adjusted for known confounders of outcomes in AHF. A total of 10 533 patients with a mean age of 73 (±12) years and a mean SBP of 145 (±7) mm Hg were included. LVEF was assessed in 9863 patients (93%); 4737 patients (45%) had LVEF<40%. Increasing SBP was inversely associated with 180-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HRadjusted], 0.93; 95% CI, 0.89-0.98; P=0.008 per 10 mm Hg increase) and with the composite end point (HRadjusted, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.85-0.94; P<0.001 per 10 mm Hg increase). A significant interaction with LVEF was observed, revealing that SBP was not associated with mortality in patients with LVEF≥40% (HRadjusted, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.91-1.04; per 10 mm Hg increase), but was strongly associated with increased mortality in LVEF<40% (HRadjusted, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77-0.92; per 10 mm Hg increase). CONCLUSIONS Elevated SBP is associated with favorable short-term and long-term outcomes in patients with AHF. In our predefined subgroup analysis, we found that baseline SBP was not associated with mortality in LVEF≥40%, but was strongly associated with mortality in patients with LVEF<40%.

Clinical Applicability of Lung Ultrasound Methods in the Emergency Department to Detect Pulmonary Congestion on Computed Tomography.

BACKGROUND: B-lines on lung ultrasound are seen in decompensated heart failure, but their diagnostic value in consecutive patients in the acute setting is not clear. Chest CT is the superior method to evaluate interstitial lung disease, but no studies have compared lung ultrasound directly to congestion on chest CT. PURPOSE: To examine whether congestion on lung ultrasound equals congestion on a low-dose chest CT as the gold standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a single-center, prospective observational study we included consecutive patients ≥ 50 years of age in the emergency department. Patients were concurrently examined by lung ultrasound and chest CT. Congestion on lung ultrasound was examined in three ways: I) the total number of B-lines, II) ≥ 3 B-lines bilaterally, III) ≥ 3 B-lines bilaterally and/or bilateral pleural effusion. Congestion on CT was assessed by two specialists blinded to all other data. RESULTS: We included 117 patients, 27 % of whom had a history of heart failure and 52 % chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Lung ultrasound and CT were performed within a median time of 79.0 minutes. Congestion on CT was detected in 32 patients (27 %). Method I had an optimal cut-point of 7 B-lines with a sensitivity of 72 % and a specificity of 81 % for congestion. Method II had 44 % sensitivity, and 94 % specificity. Method III had a sensitivity of 88 % and a specificity of 85 %. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary congestion in consecutive dyspneic patients ≥ 50 years of age is better diagnosed if lung ultrasound evaluates both B-lines and pleural effusion instead of B-lines alone.