PMID- 12815571
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20031007
LR  - 20151119
IS  - 1071-9164 (Print)
IS  - 1071-9164 (Linking)
VI  - 9
IP  - 3
DP  - 2003 Jun
TI  - Prescription patterns of diuretics in chronic heart failure: a contemporary 
      background as a clue to their role in treatment.
PG  - 210-8
AB  - BACKGROUND: Diuretics are the cornerstone of treatment for the congestive 
      symptoms of heart failure (HF). Despite their widespread use, diuretic 
      prescription data in clinical practice are scarce. In this study we evaluated the 
      prescription pattern of diuretics in a large population of HF outpatients, 
      enrolled by a national network of hospital-based cardiologists. METHODS AND 
      RESULTS: Among 11070 HF outpatients (mean age 64 +/- 12 years, 72.9% men, 29.8% 
      New York Heart Association [NYHA] class III-IV, mean left ventricular ejection 
      fraction [LVEF] 35+/-12%), 9247 took a diuretic, the most frequently prescribed 
      therapeutic agent (83.5%). Loop diuretics were prescribed alone (65.5%) or 
      combined with other diuretics in 91.6% of patients. By multivariate analysis, the 
      strongest independent predictors of diuretic use were a previous hospital 
      admission for HF (odds ratio [OR] 2.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.28-2.86), 
      NYHA class III-IV (OR 2.52, 95% CI 2.14-2.96), LVEF < 30% (OR 1.87, 95% CI 
      1.57-2.24). Aldosterone antagonists were prescribed to 2142 patients (23.1%); 
      independent predictors of their use overlapped with those of diuretics and 
      moreover included treatment with loop diuretics (OR 3.52, 95% CI 2.66-4.66) and 
      digoxin (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.29-1.64). CONCLUSIONS: In this wide series of stable 
      HF outpatients, cardiologists prescribed diuretics in accordance with published 
      guidelines. Evolving prescription patterns of aldosterone-receptor blockers need 
      to be further evaluated.
FAU - Faggiano, Pompilio
AU  - Faggiano P
AD  - Department of Cardiology, Brescia, Italy.
FAU - Opasich, Cristina
AU  - Opasich C
FAU - Tavazzi, Luigi
AU  - Tavazzi L
FAU - Achilli, Felice
AU  - Achilli F
FAU - Gentile, Anna
AU  - Gentile A
FAU - De Biase, Luciano
AU  - De Biase L
FAU - De Maria, Renata
AU  - De Maria R
FAU - Pozzi, Roberto
AU  - Pozzi R
FAU - Tarantini, Luigi
AU  - Tarantini L
FAU - Gonzini, Lucio
AU  - Gonzini L
FAU - Maggioni, Aldo P
AU  - Maggioni AP
CN  - IN-CHF Investigators
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Multicenter Study
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - United States
TA  - J Card Fail
JT  - Journal of cardiac failure
JID - 9442138
RN  - 0 (Diuretics)
RN  - 0 (Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists)
SB  - IM
MH  - Diuretics/*therapeutic use
MH  - Drug Prescriptions/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Female
MH  - Heart Failure/*drug therapy/epidemiology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists/therapeutic use
MH  - Practice Patterns, Physicians'/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Registries/statistics & numerical data
EDAT- 2003/06/20 05:00
MHDA- 2003/10/08 05:00
CRDT- 2003/06/20 05:00
PHST- 2003/06/20 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/10/08 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/06/20 05:00 [entrez]
AID - S1071916403000162 [pii]
AID - 10.1054/jcaf.2003.25 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Card Fail. 2003 Jun;9(3):210-8. doi: 10.1054/jcaf.2003.25.