Uptitrating Treatment After Heart Failure Hospitalization Across the Spectrum of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction

BACKGROUND Acute heart failure (AHF) is associated with a poor prognosis regardless of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). STRONG-HF showed the efficacy and safety of a strategy of rapid uptitration of oral treatment for heart failure (HF) and close follow-up (high-intensity care), compared with usual care, in patients recently hospitalized for AHF and enrolled independently from their LVEF. OBJECTIVES In this study, we sought to assess the impact of baseline LVEF on the effects of high-intensity care vs usual care in STRONG-HF. METHODS The STRONG-HF trial enrolled patients hospitalized for AHF with any LVEF and not treated with full doses of renin-angiotensin inhibitors, beta-blockers, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. High-intensity care with uptitration of oral medications was performed independently from LVEF. The primary endpoint was the composite of HF rehospitalization or all-cause death at day 180. RESULTS Among the 1,078 patients randomized, 731 (68%) had LVEF #40% and 347 (32%) had LVEF >40%. The treatment benefit of high-intensity care vs usual care on the primary endpoint was consistent across the whole LVEF spectrum (interaction P with LVEF as a continuous variable = 0.372). Mean difference in the EQ-5D visual analog scale change from baseline to day 90 between treatment arms was slightly greater at higher LVEF values, but with no interaction between LVEF as a continuous variable and the treatment strategy (interaction P = 0.358). Serious adverse events were also independent from LVEF. CONCLUSIONS Rapid uptitration of oral medications for HF and close follow-up reduce 180-day death and HF reho-spitalization after AHF hospitalization independently from LVEF. (Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of Rapid Optimization, Helped by NT-ProBNP Testing, of Heart Failure Therapies [STRONG-HF]; NCT03412201) (J Am Coll Cardiol 2023;81:2131-2144) & COPY; 2023 Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that a strategy of rapid uptitration of oral treatment for heart failure and close follow-up, compared with usual care, can significantly improve the prognosis of patients with acute heart failure, regardless of left ventricular ejection fraction. This approach reduces the risk of HF rehospitalization or all-cause death within 180 days after AHF hospitalization, independently of LVEF.