Introduction: Worsening heart failure (HF) is associated with a high risk of death and rehospitalization. Despite that, real world evidence about the impact of worsening HF on clinical practice is scarce.
Areas covered: A narrative review about registries addressing recent worsening HF events in Spain, with special emphasis on patients recently hospitalized for HF was performed.
Expert opinion: Worsening HF can be defined as situations where the patient's HF deteriorates to the extent that it necessitates initiation or intensification of diuretic treatment (mainly intravenous). The events can occur at the outpatient level, generally in the day hospital, in the emergency department or even hospitalization. Early identification of worsening HF events is essential to establish appropriate treatment as soon as possible. In this context, robust clinical benefits have been reported for renin-angiotensin system inhibitors, sacubitril-valsartan, beta-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, SGLT2 inhibitors, and vericiguat. In Spain, several registries of patients with HF have been developed, some of them including patients recently hospitalized for HF, but not with recent worsening HF events. Therefore, registries addressing recent worsening events would be desirable. Using a practical approach, this review analyzes the importance of worsening HF events, with special emphasis on Spanish data.
Keywords: SGLT2 inhibitors; Worsening heart failure; heart failure with reduced ejection fraction; registry; sacubitril-valsartan; vericiguat.