Search

We have all heard this story: fuelled by untimely political disputes, COVID-19 spread like wildfire in Brazil. 324, 2020, 1307-1316 6 RD Lopes, AVS Macedo, PGM de Barros e Silva, Continuing versus suspending angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers: impact on adverse outcomes in hospitalized patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). [Extracted from the article]

Aims: Although loop diuretics are widely used to treat heart failure (HF), there is scarce contemporary data to guide diuretic adjustments in the outpatient setting., Methods and Results: In a prospective, randomized and double-blind protocol, we tested the safety and tolerability of withdrawing low-dose furosemide in stable HF outpatients at 11 HF clinics in Brazil. The trial had two blindly adjudicated co-primary outcomes: (i) symptoms assessment quantified as the area under the curve (AUC) of a dyspnoea score on a visual-analogue scale evaluated at 4 time-points (baseline, Day 15, Day 45, and Day 90) and (ii) the proportion of patients maintained without diuretic reuse during follow-up. We enrolled 188 patients (25% females; 59 ± 13 years old; left ventricular ejection fraction = 32 ± 8%) that were randomized to furosemide withdrawal (n = 95) or maintenance (n = 93). For the first co-primary endpoint, no significant difference in patients' assessment of dyspnoea was observed in the comparison of furosemide withdrawal with continuous administration [median AUC 1875 (interquartile range, IQR 383-3360) and 1541 (IQR 474-3124), respectively; P = 0.94]. For the second co-primary endpoint, 70 patients (75.3%) in the withdrawal group and 77 patients (83.7%) in the maintenance group were free of furosemide reuse during follow-up (odds ratio for additional furosemide use with withdrawal 1.69, 95% confidence interval 0.82-3.49; P = 0.16). Heart failure-related events (hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and deaths) were infrequent and similar between groups (P = 1.0)., Conclusions: Diuretic withdrawal did not result in neither increased self-perception of dyspnoea nor increased need of furosemide reuse. Diuretic discontinuation may deserve consideration in stable outpatients with no signs of fluid retention receiving optimal medical therapy., Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02689180., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2019. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: QRS duration is considered to be an indicator of adverse outcome in patients with heart failure (HF), and genetic polymorphisms may be involved in this conductivity impairment. We studied the prognostic impact of the QRS widening rate (QRS-WR) on patients with HF and the influence of the matrix metalloproteinases gene polymorphisms on the QRS-WR., Methods: This prospective cohort study included 184 patients with left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction (LV ejection fraction [LVEF] < 45%). The QRS-WR was calculated as the difference between 2 electrocardiogram assessments (in ms) divided by the time elapsed between each evaluation (months). The MMP-1 -1607 1G/2G, MMP-2 -790G/T and -1575G/A, MMP-3 -1171 5A/6A, MMP-9 -1562 C/T and R279Q, and MMP-12 -82A/G polymorphisms were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism., Results: Patients were predominantly white (68%) men (67%) in New York Heart Association functional classes I and II (77%). Patients with HF with a QRS-WR ≥ 0.5 ms/month had more HF-related deaths and more combined clinical events than those with a QRS-WR < 0.5 ms/month (P = 0.03 and P = 0.01, respectively). After adjusting for other covariates, the QRS-WR remained an independent predictor of combined clinical events (hazard ratio, 1.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-2.5; P = 0.02). The MMP-1 2G2G genotype was associated with nearly a 2-fold increase in QRS-WR (P = 0.03). Conversely, patients with the MMP-3 5A5A genotype and a nonischemic cause of HF were protected against QRS enlargement (P = 0.03)., Conclusions: QRS-WR retains prognostic value in patients with chronic HF receiving guideline-based pharmacologic treatment. MMP gene polymorphisms can influence the rate of QRS enlargement over time., (Copyright © 2014 Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves symptoms and survival in patients with heart failure (HF). However, the devices used to deliver it are costly and can impose a significant burden to the relatively constrained health budgets of middle-income countries such as Brazil., Methods: A Markov model was constructed, representing the follow-up of a hypothetical cohort of HF patients, with a 20-year time horizon. Input data were based on information from a Brazilian cohort of 316 HF patients, as well as meta-analyses of data on devices' effectiveness and risks. Stochastic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed for all important variables in the model. Costs were expressed as International Dollars (Int$), by application of current purchasing power parity conversion rate., Results: In the base-case analysis, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of CRT over medical therapy was Int$ 15,723 per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained. For CRT combined with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), ICER was Int$ 36,940/QALY over ICD alone, and Int$ 84,345/QALY over CRT alone. Sensitivity analyses showed that the model was generally robust, though susceptible to the cost of the devices, their impact on HF mortality, and battery longevity., Conclusions: CRT is cost-effective for HF patients in the Brazilian public health system scenario. In patients eligible for CRT, upgrade to CRT+ICD has an ICER above the World Health Organization willingness-to-pay threshold of three times the nation's Gross Domestic Product per Capita (Int$ 31,689 for Brazil). However, for ICD eligible patients, upgrade to CRT+ICD is marginally cost-effective., (Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)

Background: Few international studies prospectively compared evidence-based practices and health outcomes among congestive heart failure (CHF) cohorts from countries with different cultural and economic backgrounds., Methods: Patients consecutively admitted with congestive heart failure to tertiary care teaching hospitals in Brazil and in the United States (U.S.) were systematically evaluated using a structured data form. Follow-up data 3 months after discharge were obtained using chart review and telephone interviews., Results: U.S. patients were older (p < 0.01), had higher prevalence of ischemic etiology (p < 0.01) and less previous hospitalizations for congestive heart failure (p = 0.03) than Brazilian patients, but similar Charlson comorbidity scores (p = 0.54) and left ventricular (LV) function (p = 0.45). Prescription of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors at discharge was lower at the U.S. hospital (57% vs. 68%; p = 0.03), but beta-blockers prescription was higher (37% vs. 10%; p < 0.01). Length-of-stay was significantly shorter (5 [interquartile range, 3-9] vs. 11 [6-19] days; p < 0.001) and in-hospital mortality was lower (2.4% vs. 13%; p < 0.001) in the U.S. cohort, but fewer clinical events within 3 months after discharge were observed in Brazilian patients (42% vs. 54%; p = 0.02). Combined clinical outcomes within 3 months, including overall mortality and hospital readmission, were similar between cohorts (57% vs. 55%; p = 0.80). In multivariate analysis, hospital site remained significantly associated with health outcomes., Conclusions: Medical practice and health-related outcomes were different between U.S. and Brazilian congestive heart failure patients. In order to improve management worldwide, potential factors (structural, cultural or disease-related) that might be associated with these differences need to be evaluated in future studies.