Does withdrawal of guideline-directed medical therapy increase mortality/morbidity in patients with heart failure and improved ejection fraction?
Withdrawing RASi/ARNi and MRA in patients with HFimpEF is associated with worse 1-year outcomes, supporting the continuation of these therapies.
In patients with HF with improved EF, HF therapy withdrawal was rare. Withdrawing RASi/ARNi and MRA was associated with higher mortality/morbidity at 1 year. No association was found for BBL withdrawal, albeit with a significant heterogeneity for EF at improvement, suggesting better outcomes with continuing BBL only until EF improves up to 50%. These results are hypothesis-generating and highlight the need for randomized controlled trials testing BBL withdrawal in patients with HF with improved EF.
A recent meta-analysis and a large registry study are reinforcing the risks of stopping guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) even after heart failure patients recover their ejection fraction. [20, 30] These studies show that withdrawal of key medications like RAASi/ARNi and MRAs is associated with a significantly higher risk of relapse and hospitalization, arguing for continuation of therapy. [30, 44]
Basile et al. (Mon,) studied this question.