RCT: Effect of aliskiren on postdischarge mortality and heart failure readmissions - results from the ASTRONAUT study

Source: JAMA Area: News The Journal of the American Medical Association has featured a study evaluating the addition of aliskiren (a direct renin inhibitor) to standard therapy in the management of patients with heart failure and its effects on the rate of cardiovascular death or rehospitalisation due to heart failure (HF).   The double-blind, placebo-controlled study involved patients with haemodynamically stable HF after a median of 5 days after admission into hospital. Eligible patients were 18 years or older with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 40% or less, elevated natriuretic peptides (brain natriuretic peptide [BNP] ?400 pg/mL or N -terminal pro-BNP [NT-proBNP] ?1600 pg/mL), and signs and symptoms of fluid overload. All patients received 150 mg (increased to 300 mg as tolerated) of aliskiren (n=808) or placebo (n=807) daily, in addition to standard therapy. The study drug was continued after discharge for a median 11.3 months. The primary outcome was cardiovascular (CV) death or ...
Source: NeLM - Cardiovascular Medicine - Category: Cardiology Source Type: news