Contemporary guideline-directed medical therapy in de novo, chronic, and worsening heart failure patients: First data from the TITRATE-HF study.

AIMS: Despite clear guideline recommendations for initiating four drug classes in all patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and the availability of rapid titration schemes, information on real-world implementation lags behind. Closely following the 2021 ESC HF guidelines and 2023 focused update, the TITRATE-HF study started to prospectively investigate the use, sequencing, and titration of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) in HF patients, including the identification of implementation barriers. METHODS AND RESULTS: TITRATE-HF is an ongoing long-term HF registry conducted in the Netherlands. Overall, 4288 patients from 48 hospitals were included. Among these patients, 1732 presented with de novo, 2240 with chronic, and 316 with worsening HF. The median age was 71 years (interquartile range [IQR] 63-78), 29% were female, and median ejection fraction was 35% (IQR 25-40). In total, 44% of chronic and worsening HFrEF patients were prescribed quadruple therapy. However, only 1% of HFrEF patients achieved target dose for all drug classes. In addition, quadruple therapy was more often prescribed to patients treated in a dedicated HF outpatient clinic as compared to a general cardiology outpatient clinic. In each GDMT drug class, 19% to 36% of non-use in HFrEF patients was related to side-effects, intolerances, or contraindications. In the de novo HF cohort, 49% of patients already used one or more GDMT drug classes for other indications than HF. CONCLUSION: This first analysis of the TITRATE-HF study reports relatively high use of GDMT in a contemporary HF cohort, while still showing room for improvement regarding quadruple therapy. Importantly, the use and dose of GDMT were suboptimal, with the reasons often remaining unclear. This underscores the urgency for further optimization of GDMT and implementation strategies within HF management.

Handheld echocardiography in patients with cardiovascular disease: to use or not to use, that is the question.

The physical examination is one of the most important diagnostic tools for physicians. Traditionally, a physical examination consists of inspection (looking), palpation (feeling), percussion (reflection of sound) and auscultation (listening). Handheld echography devices could become the new fifth element of a physical examination. The use of handheld echocardiography has recently increased because the devices have become smaller, easier to handle and more affordable. Handheld echocardiography is used by many specialists involved in acute cardiovascular care. In this narrative review we give a summary of the diagnostic accuracy and limitations of cardiovascular physical examination combined with handheld echocardiography. In patients with cardiovascular disease, adding handheld echocardiography to physical examination increases the sensitivity for detecting valvular heart disease (71% vs 46%) and left ventricular dysfunction with an ejection fraction < 50% (84% vs 43%). Handheld echocardiography might be better for ruling out diseases with a low pre-test probability than in confirming diseases with a high pre-test probability.

Outpatient treatment of worsening heart failure with intravenous diuretics: first results from a multicentre 2-year experience.

AIMS: The aim of this study is to examine the safety and efficacy of outpatient treatment of worsening heart failure (WHF) with intravenous diuretics. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a multicentre retrospective observational research study. Patients with all types of heart failure (HF) were included: heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF), and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Patients included in this study were 18 years or older, had symptoms of WHF, had weight gain of more than 2 kg, and were not responding to uptitrating of oral diuretic therapy. Patients were treated for one or more days at the outpatient department with administration of intravenous loop diuretics with or without a bolus. In this study, 259 patients were included (mean age of 76 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction of 41%). Rehospitalization rates for HF were 30.5% and 53.3%, respectively, at 30 days and 1 year. All-cause mortality was 5.8% and 26.3%, respectively, at 30 days and 1 year. Rehospitalization rates for HF and all-cause mortality were highest in patients with HFrEF. In a total of 322 individual outpatient treatments with intravenous diuretics, only one adverse event was registered. CONCLUSIONS: Outpatient treatment with intravenous diuretics of patients with WHF is a safe alternative strategy compared with the same treatment in hospitalized patients. However, only non-randomized data are available and rehospitalization rates for this group with WHF are high. No data are available on the best selection criteria and the cost-effectiveness of outpatient treatment with intravenous diuretics.

Outpatient treatment of worsening heart failure with intravenous and subcutaneous diuretics: a systematic review of the literature.

AIMS: In the coming decade, heart failure (HF) represents a major global healthcare challenge due to an ageing population and rising prevalence combined with scarcity of medical resources and increasing healthcare costs. A transitional care strategy within the period of clinical worsening of HF before hospitalization may offer a solution to prevent hospitalization. The outpatient treatment of worsening HF with intravenous or subcutaneous diuretics as an alternative strategy for hospitalization has been described in the literature. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this systematic review, the available evidence for the efficacy and safety of outpatient treatment with intravenous or subcutaneous diuretics of patients with worsening HF is analysed. A search was performed in the electronic databases MEDLINE and EMBASE. Of the 11 included studies 10 were single-centre, using non-randomized, observational registries of treatment with intravenous or subcutaneous diuretics for patients with worsening HF with highly variable selection criteria, baseline characteristics, and treatment design. One study was a randomized study comparing subcutaneous furosemide with intravenous furosemide. In a total of 984 unique individual patients treated in the reviewed studies, only a few adverse events were reported. Re-hospitalization rates for HF at 30 and 180 days were 28 and 46%, respectively. All-cause re-hospitalization rates at 30 and 60 days were 18-37 and 22%, respectively. The highest HF re-hospitalization was 52% in 30 days in the subcutaneous diuretic group and 42% in 30 days in the intravenous diuretic group. CONCLUSIONS: The reviewed studies present practice-based results of treatment of patients with worsening HF with intravenous or subcutaneous diuretics in an outpatient HF care unit and report that it is effective by relieving symptoms with a low risk of adverse events. The studies do not provide satisfactory evidence for reduction in rates of re-hospitalization or improvement in mortality or quality of life. The conclusions drawn from these studies are limited by the quality of the individual studies. Prospective randomized studies are needed to determine the safety and effectiveness of outpatient intravenous or subcutaneous diuretic treatment for patient with worsening HF.

Effectiveness of problem-solving treatment by general practice registrars for patients with emotional symptoms.

INTRODUCTION: In general practice many patients present with emotional symptoms. Both patients and physicians desire effective non-pharmacological treatments. AIM: To study the effectiveness of problem-solving treatment (PST) delivered by trained general practice registrars (GP registrars) for patients with emotional symptoms. METHODS: In a controlled clinical trial we compared the effectiveness of PST versus usual care for patients with emotional symptoms. Dutch GP registrars provided either PST or usual care, according to their own preference. Patients were included if they (a) had presented for three or more consultations with emotional symptoms in the past six months; and (b) scored four or more on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Outcomes at three- and nine-month follow-up were standard measures of depression, anxiety and quality of life. RESULTS: Thirty-eight GP registrars provided PST and included 98 patients; 43 provided usual care and included 104 patients. PST patients improved significantly more than usual care patients: at nine-month follow-up, recovery rates for somatoform disorder and anxiety were higher in the PST group (OR 6.50, p=0.01 respectively OR 11.25, p=0.03). PST patients had improved significantly more on the domains social functioning, role limitation due to emotional problems and general health perception. DISCUSSION: Patients with emotional symptoms improved significantly more after PST delivered by motivated GP registrars than after usual care by GP registrars. Further research, with randomisation of interested registrars or interested GPs, is needed.