A comparison of heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction in the Moravian Midlands Registry with the LCZ696 patients in the Paradigm-HF trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There are limited data on real clinical practice in heart failure patients in the Czech Republic. We analysed the clinical parameters from the Moravian Midlands Registry (MMR) and compared them to LCZ696 patients in the Paradigm-HF trial. The Moravian Midlands Registry is a retrospective patient database from two outpatient cardiology centres in the Czech Republic. The Paradigm-HF is a large-scale prospective randomized multicentre trial with more than 8000 individuals with stabilized chronic heart failure. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction patients from two outpatient cardiology centres in the Czech Republic from October 2016 to December 2019. RESULTS: Patients in the MMR were younger (60.5 ± 10.7 vs 63.8 ± 11.5 years, P<0.05), had a higher body mass index (30.3 ± 5.0 vs 28.1 ± 5.5, P<0.05) and higher serum creatinine level (101.9 ± 36.0 vs 99.9 ± 26.5 µmol/L, P<0.05). MMR patients had lower left ventricular ejection fraction (27.8 ± 6.9 vs 29.6 ± 6.1%, P<0.05). The serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, [2563.5 (377-3536) vs 1631 (885-3154), was non significantly higher P=0.07]. Pharmacotherapy use differed for mineralocorticoid antagonist (91.4% in MMR vs 54.2% in Paradigm-HF), and digoxin (13.5% vs 29.2%). Beta-blocker use was similar (96.2% vs 93.1%) as was angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors - (71.2% vs 78.0%) and angiotensin-receptor blockers - ARB (27.9% vs 22.2%). Dosages of the commonly used ACE inhibitors at the screening visit (Paradigm-HF) / before angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor administration (MMR) differed significantly only for ramipril (7.0 ± 3.1 mg vs 4.8 ± 2.9 mg, P<0.05), dosages of ARB were - losartan (67.1 ± 30.2 vs 39.6 ± 32.0 mg, P=0.09) and valsartan (181.5 ± 71.1 vs 130.9 ± 82.2 mg, P=0.07). There was a substantial difference in device-based therapy (ICD in 60.6%, CRT 25.9% in MMR vs 14.9% and 7.0% in Paradigm-HF). CONCLUSION: The differences between the groups for the majority of clinical parameters compared were minimal, except for younger age, higher body mass index and serum creatinine level and lower left ventricular ejection fraction and substantially lower dosage of administered ramipril prior to commencing sacubitril/valsartan therapy. There was a higher prevalence of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in the MMR group.

Pharmacotherapy of diabetes mellitus in patients with heart failure - a nation-wide analysis of contemporary treatment.

AIM: Retrospective national sub-analysis of antidiabetic pharmacotherapy in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and heart failure (HF) based on data reported to the National Register of Paid Health Services in the Czech Republic between 2012-2018. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS: In 2012, there were 75,022 patients with HF and DM (i.e. 42.5% of patients with HF), 6 years later 117,265 (i.e. 41.0% of HF patients in 2018). The most represented antidiabetic drug was metformin (45.6%). Of the insulins and analogues, glargine showed the largest positive trend (5.8% 2012; 14.8% 2018). Empagliflozin was the most prescribed SGLT-2 inhibitor (1.8% in 2018). A decrease in prescribing was observed for saxagliptin (0.5% 2012; 0.1% 2018) and for sulfonylurea derivates - gliclazide (13.0% 2012; 10.3% in 2018) and glimepiride (12.9% 2012; 9.0% 2018). Linagliptin was the most prescribed dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitor (0.7% 2012; 6.8% 2018). CONCLUSION: In the Czech Republic, between 2012 and 2008, there was an increase in prevalence of patients with heart failure and concomitant diabetes mellitus, their proportion being similar. In correspondence with other registries, metformin was used mostly. A positive trend was observed in prescription of DDP-4 and SGLT-2 inhibitors, while there was a significant decrease in patients taking sulfonylureas.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-II-receptor antagonists and angiotensin-receptor blocker/neprilysin inhibitor utilization in heart failure patients: Sub-analysis of a nation-wide population-based study in the Czech Republic.

AIMS: Sub-analysis of a retrospective nation-wide observational analysis of heart failure (HF) epidemiology reported to the Czech National Registry of Reimbursed Health Services between 2012 and 2018 aimed at angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), angiotensin-II-receptor antagonists (ARB) and angiotensin receptor blocker/neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) use. METHODS AND RESULTS: ACEi and ARBs were generally used in 87.6% of all HF patients in 2012 (n=154 627); 84.5% in 2013 (n=170 861); 83.5% in 2014 (n=186 963); 81.6% in 2015 (n=198 844); 80.1% in 2016 (n=205 793); 78.0% in 2017 (n=212 152) and in 76.7% in 2018 (n=219 235). In a sub-analysis of patients with a medical procedure and/or examination using an I50.x ICD code accounted for in the given year, ACEi and ARBs were generally used in 99.3% in 2012 (n=63 250); 96% in 2013 (n=62 241); 95.2% in 2014 (n=64 414); 93.3% in 2015 (n=65 217); 91.8% in 2016 (n=65 236); 90.1% in 2017 (n=65 761) and in 88.6% in 2018 (n=66 332). In 2018, the majority of patients with HF were prescribed ramipril (n=49 909; 17.5%) and perindopril (n=44 332; 15.5%). The mostly prescribed ARBs in 2018 were telmisartan (n=18 669; 6.5%); losartan (n=13 935; 4.9%) and valsartan (n=4 849; 1.7%). In 24.5% of cases, ACEIs and ARBs were prescribed in a fixed combination with another drug. ARNI became gradually more prescribed from 2018 (n=9 659 in November 2020). CONCLUSION: In an analysis of ACEIs, ARBs and ARNIs utilization in all patients treated for heart failure in the given year in the whole country, we found a comparable rate of drug prescription in comparison with specific heart failure registries. This indicates a good translation of current standard of care into common clinical practice. Ramipril and perindopril remained the mostly prescribed ACEIs and telmisartan became the mostly prescribed ARB. Since 2018, ARNIs began to be widely prescribed.

Directly Measured Adherence to Treatment in Chronic Heart Failure: LEVEL-CHF Registry.

BACKGROUND: Currently, most available data on the medication adherence of patients with chronic heart failure are based on indirect methods. We examined the level of adherence to medical therapy using a direct method - serum drug level testing. METHODS: We carried out a prospective single-centre registry of patients with chronic heart failure (LEVEL-CHF registry), in whom we analysed serum levels of the medications prescribed for the treatment of heart failure: angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. We labelled a patient as non-adherent if at least one serum level of a prescribed drug was unmeasurable (below the detection limit). Patients with all tested drugs identifiable in serum were labelled as adherent. We enrolled 274 patients (208 men and 66 women) mean age 62 years. RESULTS: 82.5% of patients were adherent and 17.5% non-adherent to prescribed medications. 3.6% were completely non-adherent without any detectable drugs in serum. Patients aged <60 years were more likely to be non-adherent than older patients (OR 2.15). No other clinical or laboratory parameters predicted non-adherence. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of outpatients with chronic heart failure were non-adherent to treatment when assessed by a direct method of serum drug level testing. Non-adherence was more likely in younger patients.

Longterm mechanical circulatory support for chronic heart failure - real life practice.

Thanks to developments in pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment of heart failure over the last half century, there has been improved quality of life and reduced mortality and morbidity. Despite these advances, the prognosis of advanced heart failure remains poor and the number of patients with terminal heart failure is currently increasing. In the general medical community, knowledge of pharmacological and device therapy with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator or resynchronization therapy is prevalent. However, only a limited number of professionals, mostly in tertiary centres, have personal experience with the use of long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS) in patients with advanced heart failure after the above conventional therapeutic options have been exhausted. The purpose of this communication is, therefore, to provide the general medical community with basic information about benefits, limitations and referral strategies for MCS.

Beta-blockers utilization in heart failure patients: Sub-analysis of a nation-wide population-based study in the Czech Republic.

AIMS: Sub-analysis of a retrospective nation-wide observational analysis of heart failure (HF) epidemiology reported to the Czech National Registry of Reimbursed Health Services between 2012 and 2018 aimed at beta-blockers (BBs) utilization. METHODS AND RESULTS: The beta-blockers were generally used in 81.8% of all patients treated for HF in 2012 (n=52 140); 81.8% in 2013 (n=53 058); 83.1% in 2014 (n=56 221); 82.1% in 2015 (n=57 421); 83.3% in 2016 (n=59 187); 82.2% in 2017 (60 058) and in 81.4% in 2018 (n=60 966). In 2018, the majority of patients treated for HF were prescribed metoprolol (22 974; 30.7%) and bisoprolol (21 001; 28%). Carvedilol was prescribed in 7 331 patients treated for HF (9.8%), nebivolol in 5 392 HF patients. Despite its primary indication, betaxolol was used in 2 341 patients treated for HF (3.1%). All other beta-blockers were used in less than 1% of HF patients. In some of the mostly used BBs, their prescription in patients treated for HF changed in the last years (metoprolol 32.4% in 2012, 30.7% in 2018; bisoprolol 20.3% in 2012, 28% in 2018; carvedilol 18.3% in 2012, 9.8% in 2018; nebivolol 2.5% in 2012, 7.2% in 2018; betaxolol 4.2% in 2012, 3.1% in 2018). CONCLUSION: In an analysis of beta-blockers utilization in all patients treated for heart failure in the given year in the whole country, we have found only slightly lower amount of drug prescription in comparison with specific heart failure registries. This indicates a good translation of current standard of care into common clinical practice. Metoprolol remained the mostly prescribed drug. The prescription of bisoprolol and nebivolol has increased at the expense of carvedilol.

Acute myocardial infarction, intraventricular thrombus and risk of systemic embolism.

The development of left ventricular thrombus (LVT) is a well-known and serious complication of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) due to the risk of systemic arterial embolism (SE), which is variable in its clinical picture and has potentially serious consequences depending on the extent of target organ damage. SE results in an increase in mortality and morbidity in these patients. LVT is one of the main causes of the development of ischaemic cardio-embolic cardiovascular events (CVE) after MI and the determination of the source of cardiac embolus is crucial for the initiation of adequate anticoagulant therapy in secondary prevention. Echocardiography holds an irreplaceable place in the diagnosis of LVT, contrast enhancement provides higher sensitivity. The gold standard for LVT diagnosis is cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, but it is not suitable as a basic screening test. In patients with already diagnosed LVT, it is necessary to adjust antithrombotic therapy by starting warfarin anticoagulation for at least 6 months with the need for echocardiographic follow-up to detect thrombotic residues. The effect of prophylactic administration of warfarin in high-risk patients after anterior AMI does not outweigh the risk of severe bleeding complications and does not result in a decrease in mortality and morbidity. At the present time, there is not enough evidence to use direct oral anticoagulants in this indication.

Ventricular tachycardia: a presentation of Fabry disease case report.

BACKGROUND: Fabry disease is an inherited rare metabolic disease caused by mutation in the GLA gene, encoding lysosomal enzyme alpha-galactosidase A. The disorder is a systemic disease that manifests as cerebrovascular and cardiac disease, chronic renal failure, skin lesion, peripheral neuropathy, and other abnormalities. Ventricular tachycardia as a Fabry disease presentation is very rare. CASE SUMMARY: A 36-year-old man self-presented to a general practitioner complaining of episodes of shortness of breath together with a 6-month history of malaise. The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) prompted a decision to transfer him immediately to a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) capable hospital under the suspicion of acute coronary syndrome. Whilst awaiting transport, he experienced acute onset of dyspnoea together with non-specific chest heaviness. A repeat ECG monitor strip showed ventricular tachycardia transforming to ventricular fibrillation. The patient was successfully defibrillated. Coronary angiography was performed upon arrival at hospital and demonstrated unobstructed coronary arteries. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed concentric left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and normal systolic function, with severe diastolic dysfunction. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed the LVH, and did not demonstrate any late gadolinium enhancement. DISCUSSION: Our case illustrates the pivotal role of critical clinical thinking in the diagnosis of rare but treatable hereditary cardiomyopathy. The uncommon cardiac presentation of Fabry disease promotes further research linking different phenotypes of Fabry disease with different pathogenic mutations.

Catheter Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia as the First-Line Therapy in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease and Preserved Left Ventricular Systolic Function: Long-Term Results.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), relatively preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and hemodynamically tolerated ventricular tachycardia (VT) may benefit from catheter ablation as the first-line treatment. Our aim was to analyze the long-term results of VT ablation in this population. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty-one patients (1 woman, mean age 67 ± 10 years) with CAD, tolerated VT, and LVEF ≥40% underwent catheter ablation as the first-line treatment of the arrhythmia. Catheter ablation was performed in order to abolish all inducible VTs. An ICD was implanted if sustained VT of any morphology remained inducible after the procedure. The mean LVEF was 48 ± 6% and the mean VT cycle length reached 348 ± 70 milliseconds in the study cohort. Clinical and all inducible VTs were abolished in 90% (28/31) and 58% (18/31) of the patients, respectively. An ICD was subsequently implanted in 42% of cases. Over a mean follow-up of 3.8 ± 2.9 years, 42% (13/31) patients died. Survival of the patients with or without the ICD was not significantly different (P = 0.47). VT recurrence was observed in 11% (2/18) of patients who had complete elimination of all inducible VTs. No sudden death occurred in patients without the ICD. CONCLUSIONS: Catheter ablation of VT as the first-line treatment in patients with CAD and relatively preserved LVEF is a viable strategy. It may prevent implantation of the ICD in a considerable proportion of patients. Abolition of all inducible VTs confers low VT recurrence rate over a long-term follow-up.

Changing Views: Safety and Efficacy of Implantable Cardioverter- Defibrillator Therapy in Athletes.

The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is highly effective in reducing sudden death from ventricular tachyarrhythmia among high-risk cardiac patients. Conventional advice given to patients with ICD is to avoid physical activity more strenuous than playing golf or bowling. This recommendation is given due to a theoretical risk of arrhythmia precipitation, and thus increased risk of death due to failure to defibrillate, injury resulting from loss of control caused by arrhythmia-related syncope or shock, and also due to sport related direct damage to the ICD system. Recent prospective data from an international registry involving 372 athletes with ICDs in situ and actively participating in sports has been published. This indicates that, although physical activity resulted in an increased number of shocks compared to rest, there was no significant difference between intensive physical activity and any other activity (10% vs. 8%, p=0.34) in frequency of shocks. Furthermore, over a median follow-up period of 31 months (21-46 months), in the period of sports activity and 2 hour rest directly after there were no occurrences of death, resuscitated arrest or arrhythmia, or shock-related injury. This data is likely to start a shift in every-day clinical decision-making leading to revision of the high level of precautions imposed on the rapidly enlarging ICD recipient population.

Complications of catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia: a single-center experience.

BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation has become an established treatment modality for a broad spectrum of ventricular tachycardias (VTs). We analyzed incidence and predictors of major complications of VT ablation procedures in a high-volume expert center. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated 548 consecutive patients who underwent 722 ablation procedures, 473 (65.5%) for structural heart disease VT in the period 2006 to 2012. There were 45 (6.2%) major complications observed in 44 patients. Access site vascular complications were the most frequent (3.6%). Three patients (0.4%) had cardiac tamponade/hemopericardium, and 5 patients (0.7%) had a thromboembolic event. No procedural deaths occurred. Procedures for structural heart disease VT versus idiopathic VT had a significantly higher complication rate (8.0% versus 2.8%; P=0.006). Similarly, patients with electrical storm (10.1% versus 5.3%; P=0.04) and nonelective procedures (8.4% versus 3.5%; P=0.007) were at higher risk of complications. On multivariate analysis, age >70 years (P=0.01), serum creatinine >115 µmol/L (P=0.0003), and individual operator (P=0.0001) were the only independent predictors of complications. Overall 30-day mortality in the structural heart disease VT group reached 5.0% (patients) and 3.6% (procedures). Death was associated with early recurrence of VT/ventricular fibrillation (P=0.003) and ablation for electrical storm (P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Complication rates for VT ablation are significantly lower in idiopathic VT or in elective procedures. Independent predictors of complications include age, renal insufficiency, and individual operator. Postprocedural mortality is predicted by early recurrence of VT/ventricular fibrillation and ablation for electrical storm.