Effects of carperitide on degree of pulmonary congestion in treatment of acute heart failure

Abstract

Background: Carperitide is used to treat acute heart failure (AHF) in Japan. Whether the degree of pulmonary congestion is associated with the effects of carperitide on AHF is unclear. Methods and Results: We retrospectively investigated the in-hospital outcomes and prognoses of 742 patients hospitalized for AHF between February 2015 and January 2017 and classified them into carperitide and non-carperitide groups, stratified according to the degree of pulmonary congestion. The median follow-up duration after admission was 231 days. In patients with moderate– severe pulmonary congestion, the rate of remaining congestion on chest X-ray at discharge was lower in the carperitide group than in the non-carperitide group (1.5% vs. 9.0%, P=0.004). Also, the carperitide group had significant reduction in a composite of all-cause death or rehospitalization for HF (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI: 0.41–0.93; P=0.02). In patients with no–mild pulmonary congestion, carperitide was not associated with better clinical outcome. Conclusions: In the treatment of AHF with moderate–severe pulmonary congestion, carperitide is associated with more effective decongestion in the short term and better prognosis in the long term.