Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute

Packer, M., C. O’Connor, J. J. V. McMurray, J. Wittes, W. T. Abraham, S. D. Anker, K. Dickstein, G. Filippatos, R. Holcomb, H. Krum, A. P. Maggioni, A. Mebazaa, W. F. Peacock, M. C. Petrie, P. Ponikowski, F. Ruschitzka, D. J. van Veldhuisen, L. S. Kowarski, M. Schactman and J. Holzmeister (2017). “Effect of ularitide on cardiovascular mortality in acute heart failure.” N Engl J Med 376(20): 1956-1964.

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BACKGROUND: In patients with acute heart failure, early intervention with an intravenous vasodilator has been proposed as a therapeutic goal to reduce cardiac-wall stress and, potentially, myocardial injury, thereby favorably affecting patients’ long-term prognosis. METHODS: In this double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 2157 patients with acute heart failure to receive a continuous intravenous infusion of either ularitide at a dose of 15 ng per kilogram of body weight per minute or matching placebo for 48 hours, in addition to accepted therapy. Treatment was initiated a median of 6 hours after the initial clinical evaluation. The coprimary outcomes were death from cardiovascular causes during a median follow-up of 15 months and a hierarchical composite end point that evaluated the initial 48-hour clinical course. RESULTS: Death from cardiovascular causes occurred in 236 patients in the ularitide group and 225 patients in the placebo group (21.7% vs. 21.0%; hazard ratio, 1.03; 96% confidence interval, 0.85 to 1.25; P=0.75). In the intention-to-treat analysis, there was no significant between-group difference with respect to the hierarchical composite outcome. The ularitide group had greater reductions in systolic blood pressure and in levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide than the placebo group. However, changes in cardiac troponin T levels during the infusion did not differ between the two groups in the 55% of patients with paired data. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with acute heart failure, ularitide exerted favorable physiological effects (without affecting cardiac troponin levels), but short-term treatment did not affect a clinical composite end point or reduce long-term cardiovascular mortality.

Packer, M. (2017). “Tetralogy of fallow: Four trials and tribulations.” JACC Heart Fail 5(6): 408-410.

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When Chris O’Connor became the Founding Editor of JACC: Heart Failure, he opened a dead letter office (1) to welcome old trials that had been completed and reported years before but had never been published. Their results had been fully analyzed and presented at scientific meetings, and often drafts of the primary papers had been written…Once the papers were sidelined, it was easy to fantasize that they would eventually be published. Yet, despite the overwhelming ethical mandate to place the results in print, there was always a reason to pursue different priorities and to follow other paths of immediate interest. The papers were left fallow; they were plots of land that had been plowed and harrowed but remained unsown, presumably under the premise that doing so would restore their fertility. It was this false premise that allowed time to pass…

Roberts, P. R., N. Clementy, F. Al Samadi, C. Garweg, J. L. Martinez-Sande, S. Iacopino, J. B. Johansen, X. V. Prat, R. Kowal, D. Klug, L. Mont, J. Steffel, S. Li, D. Van Osch and M. F. El-Chami (2017). “A leadless pacemaker in the real-world setting: The micra transcatheter pacing system post-approval registry.” Heart Rhythm: 2017 May [Epub ahead of print].

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BACKGROUND: First-in-man studies of leadless pacemakers have demonstrated high rates of implant success, and safety and efficacy objectives were achieved. Outside of the investigational setting, there are concerns, particularly over cardiac effusion and perforation, device dislodgement, infection, telemetry, and battery issues. OBJECTIVE: The acute performance of the Micra transcatheter pacemaker from a worldwide postapproval registry is reported. METHODS: The registry is an ongoing prospective single-arm observational study designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of Micra in the postapproval setting. The safety end point was system- or procedure-related major complications at 30 days post implant. We compared the major complication rate with that of the 726 patients from the investigational study. Electrical performance was also characterized. RESULTS: The device was successfully implanted in 792 of 795 registry patients (99.6%) by 149 implanters at 96 centers in 20 countries. Through 30 days post implant, a total of 13 major complications occurred in 12 patients, for a major complication rate of 1.51% (95% confidence interval, 0.78%-2.62%). Major complications included cardiac effusion/perforation (1, 0.13%), device dislodgement (1, 0.13%), and sepsis (1, 0.13%). After adjusting for baseline differences, the rate of major complications in the registry trended lower than the investigational trial (odds ratio, 0.59, 95% confidence interval, 0.27-1.27; P = .18). Early pacing capture thresholds were low and stable. CONCLUSION: Performance of the Micra transcatheter pacemaker in a real-world setting demonstrates a high rate (99.6%) of implant success and low rate (1.51%) of major complication through 30 days post implant. In particular, the rates of pericardial effusion, device dislodgement, and infection were low, reinforcing the positive results seen in the investigational study.

Packer, M., B. Pitt, J. L. Rouleau, K. Swedberg, D. L. DeMets and L. Fisher (2017). “Long-term effects of flosequinan on the morbidity and mortality of patients with severe chronic heart failure: Primary results of the profile trial after 24 years.” JACC Heart Fail 5(6): 399-407.

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OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this clinical trial was to evaluate the long-term effects of flosequinan on the morbidity and mortality of patients with severe chronic heart failure. BACKGROUND: Flosequinan was the first oral vasodilator to be used in the clinic to augment the effects of digitalis, diuretics, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in heart failure. However, the drug activated neurohormonal systems and exerted both positive inotropic and chronotropic effects, raising concerns about its safety during long-term use. METHODS: Following a run-in period designed to minimize the risk of tachycardia, we randomly assigned 2,354 patients in New York Heart Association functional class III to IV heart failure and with an ejection fraction

Mogensen, U. M., L. Kober, S. L. Kristensen, P. S. Jhund, J. Gong, M. P. Lefkowitz, A. R. Rizkala, J. L. Rouleau, V. C. Shi, K. Swedberg, M. R. Zile, S. D. Solomon, M. Packer and J. J. V. McMurray (2017). “The effects of sacubitril/valsartan on coronary outcomes in paradigm-hf.” Am Heart J 188: 35-41.

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BACKGROUND: Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I), are beneficial both in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF) and after myocardial infarction (MI). We examined the effects of the angiotensin-receptor neprilysin inhibitor sacubitril/valsartan, compared with the ACE-I enalapril, on coronary outcomes in PARADIGM-HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We examined the effect of sacubitril/valsartan compared with enalapril on the following outcomes: i) the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular (CV) death or HF hospitalization, ii) a pre-defined broader composite including, in addition, MI, stroke, and resuscitated sudden death, and iii) a post hoc coronary composite of CV-death, non-fatal MI, angina hospitalization or coronary revascularization. At baseline, of 8399 patients, 3634 (43.3%) had a prior MI and 4796 (57.1%) had a history of any coronary artery disease. Among all patients, compared with enalapril, sacubitril/valsartan reduced the risk of the primary outcome (HR 0.80 [0.73-0.87], P<.001), the broader composite (HR 0.83 [0.76-0.90], P<.001) and the coronary composite (HR 0.83 [0.75-0.92], P<.001). Although each of the components of the coronary composite occurred less frequently in the sacubitril/valsartan group, compared with the enalapril group, only CV death was reduced significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with enalapril, sacubitril/valsartan reduced the risk of both the primary endpoint and a coronary composite outcome in PARADIGM-HF. Additional studies on the effect of sacubitril/valsartan on atherothrombotic outcomes in high-risk patients are merited.