Prognostic effect of a vasopressin V₂ receptor antagonist in acute congestive heart failure patients with hypoperfusion, the wet–cold pattern

This study investigated whether the oral vasopressin V₂ receptor antagonist tolvaptan has beneficial effects on mortality in real-world congestive heart failure (CHF) patients with hypoperfusion (i.e. the wet–cold pattern), from the viewpoint of cardiorenal syndrome.

Data on 5511 consecutive CHF patients were extracted from the Tokyo CCU Network data registry. Congestion and hypoperfusion were defined by Nohria–Stevenson clinical profiles at the time of hospitalization. Propensity scores for tolvaptan use were calculated for each patient and used to assemble two matched cohorts of patients receiving tolvaptan or not in the CHF with and without hypoperfusion groups.

Of the entire study cohort, 1073 patients (19%) had CHF with hypoperfusion (i.e. the wet–cold pattern). In-hospital mortality was significantly higher for CHF patients with than without hypoperfusion (log-rank, P < 0.001). The rate of tolvaptan use did not differ significantly between CHF patients with and without hypoperfusion (15% vs. 14%, respectively; P = 0.7848). In the propensity-matched CHF with hypoperfusion cohort, there was a significant association between the use of tolvaptan and a reduction in in-hospital mortality (log-rank, P = 0.0052). Conversely, in the matched CHF without hypoperfusion cohort, tolvaptan use was not associated with in-hospital mortality (log-rank, P = 0.4417).

There was a significant association between the use of tolvaptan and a reduction in in-hospital mortality in CHF patients with, but not without, hypoperfusion. These findings hint at possible individualized therapies for patients with CHF.