Cardiorenal interactions: insights from the ESCAPE trial.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the ESCAPE (Evaluation Study of Congestive Heart Failure and Pulmonary Artery Catheterization Effectiveness) database to understand the impact and pathophysiology of renal dysfunction in patients hospitalized with advanced decompensated heart failure (HF).


BACKGROUND
Baseline renal insufficiency (RI) (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] <60 ml/min) and worsening renal function (WRF) (upward arrow serum creatinine [SCr] >or=0.3 mg/dl) during treatment of decompensated HF are associated with adverse outcomes.


METHODS
We used a Cox proportional hazards model to evaluate the impact of renal function on 6-month outcomes. Renal parameters were correlated with hemodynamic measurements. The impact of a strategy using pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) guidance on WRF and outcomes in patients with baseline RI was compared with treatment based on clinical assessment alone.


RESULTS
Baseline and discharge RI, but not WRF, were associated with an increased risk of death and death or rehospitalization. Among the hemodynamic parameters measured in patients randomized to the PAC arm (n = 194), only right atrial pressure correlated weakly with baseline SCr (r = 0.165, p = 0.03). There was no correlation between baseline hemodynamics or change in hemodynamics and WRF. A PAC-guided strategy was associated with less average increase in creatinine but did not decrease the incidence of defined WRF during hospitalization or affect renal function after discharge relative to clinical assessment alone.


CONCLUSIONS
Among patients with advanced decompensated HF, baseline RI impacts outcomes more than WRF. Poor forward flow alone does not appear to account for the development of RI or WRF in these patients. The addition of hemodynamic monitoring to clinical assessment does not prevent WRF or improve renal function after discharge.
Nohria
Anju
A
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Hasselblad
Vic
V
Stebbins
Amanda
A
Pauly
Daniel F
DF
Fonarow
Gregg C
GC
Shah
Monica
M
Yancy
Clyde W
CW
Califf
Robert M
RM
Stevenson
Lynne W
LW
Hill
James A
JA
D000208:Acute Disease; D002407:Catheterization, Swan-Ganz; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D003404:Creatinine