News: Follow-up consultations after heart failure may reduce risk of mortality, study finds

After a diagnosed heart failure, a single follow-up cardiology visit was associated with a 6%–9% decreased risk in one-year all-cause mortality, according to a recent study published in European Heart Journal. Unfortunately, the study also found that about 40% of patients with diagnosed heart failure did not pursue future cardiology consultations, regardless of the initial severity of their condition, Medscape Medical News reported.

Researchers analyzed data collected from over 600,000 patients in France who were either diagnosed or hospitalized with heart failure between 2015 and 2019 and were still alive on January 1, 2020. They split patients into four groups:

• Those hospitalized with heart failure within the past year
• Those hospitalized with the condition between one and five years prior
• Patients who were not hospitalized but were receiving loop diuretics
• Patients who were not hospitalized and were not taking loop diuretics

They found mortality risk increased progressively across groups, with an 8% one-year risk for all-cause mortality in patients without hospitalization or use of loop diuretics, and a 25% risk in those who had been hospitalized for heart failure within the past year. The optimal follow-up strategy seemed to vary by risk group. One annual visit was best for low-risk patients, two to three for intermediate-risk patients, and four visits for high-risk patients that were recently hospitalized with heart failure.

“Despite having an HF [heart failure] diagnosis, 40% of patients do not see a cardiologist annually, regardless of disease severity,” the study authors wrote. “Simple stratification based on hospitalization history and diuretic use effectively predicts outcomes. Tailoring the annual number of [heart failure] consultations according to this stratification could optimize resource use and reduce avoidable modelled deaths. This group represents a significant opportunity to improve survival outcomes with only a modest increase in the total number of consultations. Healthcare systems could formally assess the impact of this annual consultation through large-scale cluster trials, allowing for an evaluation of the broader population-level benefits of this approach.”

Editor’s note: To read Medscape Medical News’ coverage of this story, click here. To access the study, click here.