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Introduction: PEACE MENA (Program for the Evaluation and Management of Cardiac Events in the Middle East and North Africa) is a prospective registry in Arab countries for in-patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or acute heart failure (AHF). Here, we report the baseline characteristics and outcomes of in-patients with AHF who were enrolled during the first 14 months of the recruitment phase. Methods: A prospective, multi-centre, multi-country study including patients hospitalized with AHF was conducted. Clinical characteristics, echocardiogram, BNP (B-type natriuretic peptide), socioeconomic status, management, 1-month, and 1-year outcomes are reported Results: Between April 2019 and June 2020, a total of 1258 adults with AHF from 16 Arab countries were recruited. Their mean age was 63.3 (±15) years, 56.8% were men, 65% had monthly income ≤US$ 500, and 56% had limited education. Furthermore, 55% had diabetes mellitus, 67% had hypertension; 55% had HFrEF (heart failure with reduced ejection fraction), and 19% had HFpEF (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction). At 1 year, 3.6% had a heart failure-related device (0-22%) and 7.3% used an angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor (0-43%). Mortality was 4.4% per 1 month and 11.77% per 1-year post-discharge. Compared with higher-income patients, lower-income patients had a higher 1-year total heart failure hospitalization rate (45.6 vs 29.9%, p=0.001), and the 1-year mortality difference was not statistically significant (13.2 vs 8.8%, p=0.059). Conclusion: Most of the patients with AHF in Arab countries had a high burden of cardiac risk factors, low income, and low education status with great heterogeneity in key performance indicators of AHF management among Arab countries.

BackgroundThis pilot study describes the overall design and results of the Program for the Evaluation and Management of the Cardiac Events registry for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region.MethodsThis prospective, multi-center, multi-country study included patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and/or acute heart failure (AHF). We evaluated the clinical characteristics, socioeconomic and educational levels, management, in-hospital outcomes, and 30-day mortality rate of patients that were admitted to one tertiary-care center in each of 14 Arab countries in the MENA region.ResultsBetween 22 April and 28 August 2018, 543 AMI and 381AHF patients were enrolled from 14 Arab countries (mean age, 57±12 years, 82.5% men). Over half of the patients in both study groups had low incomes with limited health care coverage, and limited education. Nearly half of the cohort had a history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or hypercholesterolemia. Among patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarctions, 56.4% received primary percutaneous interventions, 24% received thrombolysis, and 19.5% received no acute reperfusion therapy. The main causes of AHF were ischemic heart diseases (55%) and primary valvular heart diseases (15%). The in-hospital and 30-day mortality rates were 2.0% and 3.5%, respectively, for AMI, and 5.4% and 7.0%, respectively, for AHF.ConclusionsThis pilot study revealed a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with AMI and AHF in Arab countries, and low levels of socioeconomic and educational status. Future phases of the study will improve our understanding of the impact that these factors have on the management and outcomes of cardiac events in these patient populations.