Diagnostic and therapeutic practice for Heart Failure with preserved ejection fraction around the world: An international survey.

Background and Aims: There is a gap in knowledge about implementing diagnostic tools and therapy for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in clinical practice. This survey aimed to assess real-world practice in HFpEF diagnosis and treatment in the international medical community.
Methods: An independent academic web-based 29-question survey was designed by a group of heart failure specialists and posted by email and through scientific societies and social networks to a broad community of physicians worldwide.
Results: 1.460 physicians from 95 countries answered the survey, with a mean age of 42.2±10.4 years, 39.4 % females, and 85.1 % were cardiologists. The left ventricular ejection fraction cut-off value selected for HFpEF diagnosis was 50 % for 89 % of participants. The scores for the probability of diagnosis of HFpEF were used only by 47.2 %, and H2FPEF was the most used score (31 %). Natriuretic peptides were used by 87.4 % of participants for the diagnostic workup, while the diastolic stress test was only used by 26.2 %. 54.4 % of participants chose SGLT2 inhibitors as their first drug treatment, followed by diuretics (18.6 %) and ACE inhibitors (8.4 %).
Conclusions: In an international academic survey on HFpEF management, the criteria for screening and diagnosis of HFpEF patients remain aligned with classic international guidelines with a low use of diagnostic scores. SGLT2i is the leading therapeutic drug class used for this heterogeneous patient population. These results raise the need to improve education and awareness on diagnosing and managing HFpEF patients.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest CS has received honoraria as speaker for Speaker for Novartis, Servier, Merck, Sanofi Pfizer, Astrazeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, Ely Lilly and as advisor for Bayer, Merck and Novo Nordisk, CF has received travel fees from Pfizer, NM has received consulting fees from Bayer and Amgen and as speaker for Astrazeneca, Novartis and Boehringer Ingelheim, support for attending meetings from Astrazeneca and Novartis, FR has not received personal payments by pharmaceutical companies or device manufacturers in the last 3 years (remuneration for the time spent in activities, such as participation as steering committee member of clinical trials and member of the Pfizer Research Award selection committee in Switzerland, were made directly to the University of Zurich). The Department of Cardiology (University Hospital of Zurich/University of Zurich) reports research-, educational- and/or travel grants from Abbott, Abiomed, Alnylam,Amarin, Amgen, Astra Zeneca, At the Limits Ltd., Bayer, Biotronik, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Boston Scientific, Bracco, CM Microport, Concept Medical, CTI, Daiichi Sankyo, Edwards Lifesciences, FomF GmbH, Hamilton Health Sciences, IHF, Innosuisse, IumiraDX, Kantar, LabPoint, MedAlliance, Medcon International, Medical Education Global Solutions, Medtronic, MicroPort, Monocle, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, OM Pharma, Pfizer, Quintiles Switzerland Sarl, RecorMedical, Roche Diagnostics, Roche Pharma, Sahajanand IN, Sanofi, Sarstedt AG, Servier, Terumo Deutschland, Trama Solutions, V- Wave, Vifor, ZOLL. These grants do not impact on Prof. Ruschitzka`s personal remuneration. IJI received support for travel to meetings from Novartis. DM received payment as a speaker for Novartis, Pfizer, Astra Zeneca and support for attending meetings from Pfizer, Astrazeneca and abbot. GR reports grants and personal fees from Astra Zeneca, personal fees and other from Boheringer Ingelheim, other from Bayer, personal fees from Anlylam, other from Medtronic, grants from Servier, grants and non-financial support from Menarini, personal fees from Viatris, grants from Vifor Pharma, outside the submitted work. GGR reports personal fees from Pfizer, personal fees from CSL Vifor, personal fees from Astra Zeneca, personal fees from PTC therapeutics, personal fees from Bristol MS, personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, personal fees from Servier, outside the submitted work; GE reports personal fees from NOVO NORDISK, during the conduct of the study; IM reports grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, during the conduct of the study, SZ Served on advisory boards for, or speaker engagements with Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cytokinetics, Eli Lilly, GSK, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Novo-Nordisk, Pfizer and Vifor Pharma; and serves on a clinical trial committee or as a national lead for studies sponsored by AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Salubris Bio and Served on advisory boards for, or speaker engagements with Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cytokinetics, Eli Lilly, GSK, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Novo-Nordisk, Pfizer and Vifor Pharma.
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