Key Points:
- Diuretic requirement Is a major contributor to hospital length-of-stay for HF admissions, but the optimal strategy of diuretic optimization has not yet been established. Spot urinary sodium measurement and subsequent natriuresis-guided diuretic adjustment may refine diuretic dosage in the setting of insufficient diuretic response.
- In the PUSH-AHF study, natriuresis-guided therapy was compared with standard of care in patients hospitalized with acute HF. The two primary endpoints were a) natriuresis over 24 hours and b) first occurrence of all-cause mortality or heart failure rehospitalization after 180 days.
- Natriuresis-guided therapy resulted in significantly increased natriuresis over 24 hours without a significant difference in time to all-cause mortality or heart failure rehospitalization.
The duration of acute HF hospitalization is often driven by diuresis requirement, but the optimal strategy of in-hospital diuresis has not yet been established. For those with insufficient diuretic response, assessment of urinary sodium may help monitor diuretic response and guide further therapy. In a breaking presentation at the 2023 ESC Congress today, Dr. Jozine ter Maaten (University Medical Centre Groningen ) and her team presented their study: “PUSH-AHF: Natriuresis guided therapy in acute heart failure.”
The PUSH-AHF trial (NCT04606927) was a randomized, open-label single-center trial of adult patients with a primary inpatient diagnosis of acute heart failure with an intravenous diuretic requirement that compared natriuresis-guided therapy with standard of care diuresis. Natriuresis-guided therapy was dictated by spot urinary sodium measurements; a spot sodium <70 mmol/L indicated insufficient response and resulted in diuretic therapy adjustment. Key exclusion criteria were non-cardiac dyspnea or severe renal impairment requiring dialysis. The two primary outcomes were total natriuresis after 24 hours and first occurrence of all-cause mortality or heart failure rehospitalization after 180 days.
A total of 310 patients were 1:1 randomized to either natriuresis-guided therapy or standard of care. The median age was 74, and 45% were women. Participants receiving natriuresis-guided therapy had a significant increase in natriuresis at 24 hours (409±178 vs 345±202 mmol, p=0.0061). However, there were no significant differences in time to all-cause mortality or heart failure rehospitalization after 180 days (HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.62-1.38, p=0.698). The secondary endpoints of 48-hour natriuresis and both 24- and 48-hour diuresis were all increased in the intervention arm (all p<0.02). There was no difference in hospital length-of-stay between the two groups. Natriuresis-guided therapy was safe and well-tolerated.
When discussing the clinical implications of the study at the ESC Congress press conference, Dr. ter Maaten stated: “The results of the PUSH-AHF trial are directly implementable to improve decongestive treatment as spot urinary sodium values are easy to obtain, inexpensive and widely available…natriuresis guided therapy was safe and is a first step to a personalized treatment approach in patients with acute heart failure.”
