Sacubitril/Valsartan in the Treatment of Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: A Real-world Study

OBJECTIVE: There is increasing evidence supporting the efficacy of sacubitril/valsartan for treating left heart failure, but few studies have investigated its effects on right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. This study aimed to explore the effects of sacubitril/valsartan on RV dysfunction among patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). METHODS: A total of 93 patients with HFrEF with RV dysfunction who were hospitalized from January 2018 through June 2019 were included in this retrospective observational study. All patients received their first sacubitril/valsartan treatment as in patients during the study period. We excluded 11 patients who were lost to follow-up or had incomplete heart echocardiography data. After 6 months of follow-up, we re-evaluated New York Heart Association Functional Classification and performed echocardiography to identify changes in relevant variables after treatment. RESULTS: At baseline, 24% of the patients had an initial sacubitril/valsartan regimen of 12/13 mg twice daily and 76% of the patients had an initial dose of 24/26 mg twice daily. During follow-up, 27% of patients increased their dosage to 49/50 mg twice daily, 68% of patients were taking 24/26 mg twice daily, and 5% of the patients were still taking 12/13 mg twice daily. We found that sacubitril/valsartan treatment was associated with significant improvements in the following RV function indicators: tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, tricuspid annular s' peak velocity (S'), RV fractional area change, and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP). Crude linear regression analysis revealed that a tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion improvement was positively correlated with a change in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and negatively correlated with a change in left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV). However, these correlations were nonexistent after adjusting for multiple echocardiographic variables. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with RV dysfunction and HFrEF, sacubitril/valsartan may improve RV remodeling. This influence may be independent of left cardiac remodeling.