Initiation, Continuation, or Withdrawal of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/Angiotensin Receptor Blockers and Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure With Reduced Eȷection Fraction [Heart Failure]

BackgroundGuidelines recommend continuation or initiation of guideline‐directed medical therapy, including angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers (ACEi/ARB), in hospitalized patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.Methods and ResultsUsing the Get With The Guidelines‐Heart Failure Registry, we linked clinical data from 16 052 heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (ejection fraction ≤40%) patients with Medicare claims data. We divided ACEi/ARB‐eligible patients into 4 categories based on admission and discharge ACEi/ARB use: continued (reference group), started, discontinued, or not started on therapy. A multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine the association between ACEi/ARB category and outcomes. Most, 90.5%, were discharged on ACEi/ARB (59.6% continued and 30.9% newly started). Of those discharged without ACEi/ARB, 1.9% were discontinued, and 7.5% were eligible but not started. Thirty‐day mortality was 3.5% for patients continued and 4.1% for patients started on ACEi/ARB. In contrast, 30‐day mortality was 8.8% for patients discontinued (adjusted hazard ratio [HRadj] 1.92; 95% CI 1.32‐2.81; P

Source: JAHA:Journal of the American Heart Association - February 11, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Gilstrap, L. G., Fonarow, G. C., Desai, A. S., Liang, L., Matsouaka, R., DeVore, A. D., Smith, E. E., Heidenreich, P., Hernandez, A. F., Yancy, C. W., Bhatt, D. L. Tags: Heart Failure, Mortality/Survival, Quality and Outcomes, Statements and Guidelines Original Research Source Type: research