Empagliflozin increases QoL and overall survival in adults with acute heart failure: AHA

According to late-breaking research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2021 on 14th November 2021, adults treated with empagliflozin during hospitalization for acute heart failure experienced clinical benefits such as increased survival, a lower risk of heart failure hospital readmission, and an overall improvement in their quality of life.

Empagliflozin is a medicine that was originally intended to treat type 2 diabetes, but it has lately become a standard therapy in patients with persistent heart failure.

In the double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, 530 people with an average age of 68 were included, with males accounting for 66% of the participants. Participants had been hospitalized for acute heart failure, but their symptoms had to be stable before enrolling in the experiment. The participants were placed into two equal groups: one received a 90-day supply of empagliflozin 10 mg tablets, while the other received a 90-day supply of placebo pills. They were told to take one pill every day for 90 days.

The number of deaths; heart failure-related events; the time to the first heart failure event; or an improved score of at least five points on the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, a 23-item self-administered survey used to measure the patient's perception of their health status were used by the researchers to define improvements in the participants' clinical outcome. The questionnaire employs a scale of zero to 100, with zero indicating troublesome, everyday symptoms and 100 indicating no symptoms in the previous two weeks.

Key Findings:

When compared to the placebo group, those treated with empagliflozin were 36% more likely to achieve a clinical benefit, such as lower all-cause mortality, fewer heart failure episodes, and an improvement in heart failure symptoms.

Benefits included a lower all-cause mortality rate, fewer heart failure episodes, and a higher improvement in heart failure symptoms when compared to those receiving a placebo.

Regardless of the type of heart failure or whether they had type 2 diabetes, participants observed reductions in all-cause mortality, heart failure episodes, or an improvement in heart failure symptoms.

In conclusion, the researchers pointed out that despite the fact that various medications are available to enhance clinical outcomes in individuals with chronic heart failure, relatively few have been shown to assist people with new, acute heart failure who require hospitalization. The results of this trial suggest that empagliflozin may assist to improve outcomes for these individuals without increasing the risk of significant side events.

Reference:

Adults with acute heart failure benefit when treated with a type 2 diabetes medication, American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2021, LBS.05