Only 3 out of 5 heart failure patients see cardiologist at least once a year: Study

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, shows that patients who do see a cardiologist once a year are around 24 per cent less likely to die in the following year.

It also shows which patients could benefit from seeing a cardiologist once a year and which patients should be seen more often. The research suggests that if cardiologists did see heart failure patients at least once a year, one life could be saved for every 11–16 patients seen.

“In patients with heart failure, the heart is unable to normalise blood flow and pressure. Heart failure can’t usually be cured, but with the right treatment, symptoms can often be controlled for many years. At the moment, depending on the patient and their condition, for example whether they have chronic or acute heart failure, they may or may not be seen by a cardiologist,” said Dr Guillaume Baudry from the Clinical Investigation Centre of Nancy University Hospital in France.

The study included all French patients living with heart failure in January 2020 who had been diagnosed in the previous five years -- 655,919 people in total.

These patients were found using French national medical administrative data. Researchers broke the group down according to whether they had been hospitalised with heart failure in the last year or the last five years, and whether or not they were taking diuretics as a treatment.

Diuretics help the body eliminate excess sodium through urine, which reduces the build-up of fluid in the body.

Among all groups of patients, researchers found that around two out of every five patients did not see a cardiologist over the course of a year.

Those who did see a cardiologist were less likely to die of any cause and less likely to be hospitalised with heart failure in the following year.

For patients who had been hospitalised in the last year, four appointments with a cardiologist were optimal. This reduced the risk from 34.3 per cent to 18.2 per cent, according to the study.

Dr Baudry said: “Although there are inherent limitations in observational research, our findings highlight the potential value of specialist follow-up, even in patients who appear clinically stable. Patients should feel encouraged to ask for a cardiology review, particularly if they have recently been in hospital or they are taking diuretics.”

—IANS