Acute Heart Failure | Current Treatment | Physician Insights | US | 2017

Acute heart failure (AHF) is one of the leading causes of hospitalization in the United States, representing a significant healthcare burden. AHF patients experience high rates of mortality and morbidity. These rates have not changed significantly in recent years because none of the currently approved AHF therapies have been able to improve clinical outcomes. Therefore, the main focus of current treatment of AHF remains symptomatic relief. This content shows how AHF is currently being treated and what drives the choice of pharmacotherapy for AHF patients. We reveal how and when AHF agents are being used, from the initiation of therapy, typically with loop diuretics, through to further lines of treatment. We unravel how pharmacotherapy choices are dictated by patient characteristics given the heterogeneity of symptoms in AHF.

Questions answered:

• Which drugs are most-commonly used to treat AHF patients, and how does treatment change based on patient characteristics?
• What are the typical treatment patterns for AHF patients, which drugs are prescribed in each treatment line, and what triggers the switch to the next line of treatment?
• Do treatment approaches differ between patients with acutely decompensated HF and de novo AHF?
• What are the cardiologist-reported factors determining current prescribing patterns for AHF and recent/anticipated changes?

Scope:

Markets covered: United States

Methodology: Survey of 101 cardiologists in the United States, completed in February 2017

Indication coverage: Acute heart failure

Key drugs covered: Inotropic sympathomimetics, loop diuretics, Natrecor, nitrate vasodilators, PDE3 inhibitors

Key companies mentioned: Cardiorentis, Janssen, Novartis, Sanofi, Valeant