Study highlights:
-- A study of nearly 4,000 heart failure patients finds that a larger dose of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) works better than a smaller dose.
-- The higher dose was associated with a 10.1 percent relative risk reduction (in the combined primary end-point of all-cause mortality and hospitalization for heart failure) versus the lower dose, mostly due to a reduction in the risk of heart failure hospitalizations.
-- There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality between groups.
A larger dose of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) is more effective than a smaller dose in heart failure patients, researchers said at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009.
The Comparison of Low-Dose vs. High-Dose Losartan Treatment on Morbidity and Mortality in Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor-Intolerant Patients with Heart Failure and Reduced Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction: Results of the HEAAL Study is the first to examine the relative impact of different ARB doses on clinical outcomes.
"In fact, HEAAL represents one of very few dose-related comparative outcome studies ever conducted with any cardiovascular drug," said Marvin A. Konstam, M.D., principal investigator of the study, Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and Director of Tufts Medical Center's Cardiovascular Center, in Boston, Mass. "We were able to document that the higher of the two losartan doses we compared was needed to achieve the optimal benefit on both outcomes and symptoms."