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Background: Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (pEF) has lacked effective treatments for reducing mortality. However, previous studies have found an association between statin use and decreased mortality in patients with HFpEF. The aim of this study was to analyse whether statin therapy is associated with a reduction in mortality in these patients and whether the effect differs according to the presence or absence of ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Methods: We analysed data from the National Registry of Heart Failure, a prospective study that included patients admitted for HF in Internal Medicine units nationwide. Patients with HFpEF were classified according to the use of statins, and the differences between the two groups were analysed. A multivariable analysis was performed using Cox regression to assess factors independently related to mortality. Results: A total of 2788 patients with HFpEF were included; 63% of them were women with a mean age of 80.1 (±7.8) years. The statin-treated group (40.2%) was younger, with better functional status, and had a more common diagnosis of vascular disease and lower frequency of atrial fibrillation. The most frequent aetiology of HF in both groups was the hypertensive one. Nevertheless, ischaemic HF was more common in those who received statins (24.8% vs. 9.6%; p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis showed lower mortality at the 1-year follow-up in statin-treated patients (OR: 0.74; 95%CI: 0.61–0.89; p = 0.002). This association was observed in patients without IHD (p < 0.001) but not in those with IHD (p = 0.11). Conclusions: Statins are associated with a decrease in total mortality in patients with HFpEF. This benefit occurs mainly in those without IHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to test the non-inferiority of oral versus intravenous hydration in the incidence of contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) in elderly outpatients undergoing a contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) scan. Methods: PNIC-Na (NCT03476460) is a phase-2, single-center, randomized, open-label, non-inferiority trial. We included outpatients undergoing a CE-CT scan, >65 years having at least one risk factor for CA-AKI, such as diabetes, heart failure, or an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 30–59 mL/min/1.73 m². Participants were randomized (1:1) to oral sodium-chloride capsules or intravenous hydration. The primary outcome was an increase in serum creatinine >0.3 mg/dL or a reduction in eGFR >25% within 48 h. The non-inferiority margin was set at 5%. Results: A total of 271 subjects (mean age 74 years, 66% male) were randomized, and 252 were considered for the main analysis (per-protocol). A total of 123 received oral hydration and 129 intravenous. CA-AKI occurred in 9 (3.6%) of 252 patients and 5/123 (4.1%) in the oral-hydration group vs. 4/129 (3.1%) in the intravenous-hydration group. The absolute difference between the groups was 1.0% (95% CI −4.8% to 7.0%), and the upper limit of the 95% CI exceeded the pre-established non-inferiority margin. No major safety concerns were observed. Conclusion: The incidence of CA-AKI was lower than expected. Although both regimens showed similar incidences of CA-AKI, the non-inferiority was not shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) could be a common cause of heart failure (HF). The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of CA in patients with HF. Methods: Observational, prospective, and multicenter study involving 30 Spanish hospitals. A total of 453 patients ≥ 65 years with HF and an interventricular septum or posterior wall thickness > 12 mm were included. All patients underwent a 99mTc-DPD/PYP/HMDP scintigraphy and monoclonal bands were studied, following the current criteria for non-invasive diagnosis. In inconclusive cases, biopsies were performed. Results: The vast majority of CA were diagnosed non-invasively. The prevalence was 20.1%. Most of the CA were transthyretin (ATTR-CM, 84.6%), with a minority of cardiac light-chain amyloidosis (AL-CM, 2.2%). The remaining (13.2%) was untyped. The prevalence was significantly higher in men (60.1% vs 39.9%, p = 0.019). Of the patients with CA, 26.5% had a left ventricular ejection fraction less than 50%. Conclusions: CA was the cause of HF in one out of five patients and should be screened in the elderly with HF and myocardial thickening, regardless of sex and LVEF. Few transthyretin-gene-sequencing studies were performed in older patients. In many patients, it was not possible to determine the amyloid subtype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]