Speaker 1
An important feature of managing a patient with heart failure is the optimization of lifestyle and modifiable risk factors. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society and American Heart Association recommends that clinicians engage patients in following a salt-restricted diet, staying physically active, adhering to their medications, and ensuring they stay up to date on their vaccinations. Where possible, it is recommended that patients are connected with multidisciplinary teams consisting of nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, mental health clinicians, and social workers to ensure that these aspects of their care are appropriately addressed. Almost all guidelines currently recommend the concomitant management of other cardiovascular comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney disease, and coronary artery disease. A Class I recommendation by the AHA is that in patients with both heart failure preserved ejection-fraction and hypertension, blood pressure is controlled with medications to achieve guideline-advised blood pressure control. Unlike in heart failure reduced ejection fraction, the therapeutic recommendations to improve mortality and morbidity in heart failure preserved ejection-fraction is limited. The mainstay of treatment includes mineral corticoid receptor antagonists, MRAs, such as brenolactone, and SGLT2 inhibitors. MRAs have been shown to have promising outcomes in the management of heart failure preserved ejection-fraction. While the treatment of preserved cardiac function heart failure with an Aldosterone antagonist, or top-cat trial, did not show any evidence of reducing the composite end point of cardiovascular mortality, aborted cardiac arrest, or heart failure hospitalizations when compared to placebo, it did decrease heart failure hospitalization among patients with heart failure preserved EF. Importantly, in a post hoc analysis conducted, it was determined that brenolactone led to a significant reduction in the primary outcome for the study's cohort in the Americas. This points to a clinical benefit of sprenolactone and heart failure preserved EF. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society has subsequently put forth a weak recommendation for the use of sprenolactone in patients with heart failure produced EF and appropriate renal function. More recently, the use of sodium glucose co-transporter II inhibitors have been found to have mortality and morbidity benefit in symptomatic heart failure preserved EF with an elevated B&P. Outside of these two therapies, ACE inhibitors or ARBs can be considered to potentially decrease the rate of heart failure hospitalization. It is important to know that they have not been shown to have a significant reduction in all cause or cardiovascular death in patients with heart failure preserved EF. However, it has been shown to decrease the heart failure hospitalizations in this population. Beta blockers, though frequently used for other indications, for instance, atrial fibrillation or coronary artery disease, has limited randomized control data to suggest its clinical use in isolated heart failure preserved EF. For symptom management, loop diuretics such as furizamide are recommended for patients with fluid retention, though there is no clear mortality benefit for its use.