Associations between calcium channel blocker therapy and mortality in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Treatment of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is urgently needed; however, effective treatments are lacking. Current evidence showed a possible association between the use of calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and improved outcomes in HFpEF patients. We aimed to investigate the impact of CCBs on mortality in patients with HFpEF.

This was a post hoc analysis of the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure with an Aldosterone Antagonist Trial. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. The secondary outcomes were cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality. We analysed hazard ratios (HRs) in patients taking CCBs compared with those not taking CCBs using Cox proportional hazard models. We considered 3440 HFpEF patients. The mean follow-up period was 3.4 ± 1.7 years, and 530 patients died during the study period. All-cause mortality rates in patients taking and not taking CCB were 37.3 and 50.8 events per 1000 person-years, respectively. The adjusted HR for all-cause mortality was significantly lower in those taking CCBs than those not taking CCBs [HR: 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.59–0.88, P = 0.001]. The risk of cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality was also significantly lower in patients taking CCBs than in those not taking CCBs (HR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.59–0.96, P = 0.023 and HR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.49–0.93, P = 0.018, respectively).

The use of CCBs was associated with reduced risks of mortality in patients with HFpEF.