Time in blood pressure range and cardiovascular outcomes in HFmrEF/HFpEF: a pooled participant-level analysis of four large-scale trials

Aims Blood pressure (BP) control is a Class I recommendation for the management of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF); however, evidence supporting systolic BP (SBP) targets remains limited. We investigated associations between BP control and subsequent outcomes in patients with HF with mildly reduced EF (HFmrEF)/HFpEF. Methods We pooled TOPCAT (Americas), PARAGON-HF, DELIVER, and FINEARTS-HF, which tested spironolactone, sacubitril/valsartan, dapagliflozin, and finerenone, respectively, versus placebo or active control in patients with HF and an LVEF >40% (DELIVER), ≥40% (FINEARTS-HF), or ≥45% (TOPCAT-Americas, PARAGON-HF). Daily BPs were estimated by interpolation from standardized office measurements obtained at randomization and prespecified visits. Time in target range (TIR) was the percentage of the first year after randomization during which SBP was 110–<130 mmHg. Continuous associations between TIR and subsequent risk of HF hospitalization or cardiovascular death, its individual components, and all-cause death was assessed using landmark Cox proportional hazards models with linear splines, adjusted for baseline cardiovascular risk factors. Results Among 17,788 patients (mean age 72±9 years; 47% women; mean baseline SBP 129±15 mmHg), the median TIR was 38% (≈139 days). Randomization to active therapies increased TIR by 2% (95% CI: −2 to 6) with spironolactone, 7% (5 to 9) with sacubitril/valsartan, 2% (0 to 4) with dapagliflozin, and 3% (1 to 5) with finerenone. Higher TIR was associated with lower subsequent risk of the composite outcome (P=0.021), primarily driven by lower HF hospitalization risk (P=0.007); associations with cardiovascular death and all-cause death were not significant. Sensitivity analyses using stricter (120–<130 mmHg) or more liberal ranges (100–<130 and 120–<140 mmHg) yielded qualitatively similar findings. Conclusions In patients with HFmrEF/HFpEF, BP control during the first year was associated with a lower subsequent risk of HF hospitalization. Clinical trials registration ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT00094302 (TOPCAT), NCT01920711 (PARAGON-HF), NCT03619213 (DELIVER), NCT04435626 (FINEARTS-HF)