Patients with acute heart failure (HF) who received a single counseling session before discharge on nutrition, including on sodium and protein intake, showed a significant reduction in a composite endpoint of cardiac death and HF admission.

Nutritional status has an impact on the prognosis of patients with HF. Malnutrition leads to adverse outcomes in these patients. Yet, the relationship between nutritional intervention and the prognosis of HF remains unknown.

Dr. Kang-Un Choi and his team investigated the clinical impact of nutritional intervention before discharge in patients hospitalized with acute HF. “We enrolled 781 patients out of 998 patients with acute HF hospitalized in our University Medical Center between January 2014 and December 2017 in our study,” Dr. Kang-Un Choi explained. The researchers categorized the patients into two groups: the control group (n=674) and the nutritional intervention group (n=107).

The nutritional intervention consisted of a single counseling session on nutrition, including guidance for sodium and protein intake, conducted before discharge. The primary study outcome was a composite of cardiac death and HF admission. Assessed as a secondary endpoint was the influence on all-cause mortality, cardiac death, non-cardiac death, and HF admission. The propensity score matching method  was used to correct differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups.

There was a significantly lower cumulative incidence rate of the primary outcome in the intervention group compared with the control group (P_logrank=0.033). Moreover, the nutritional intervention led to a significantly lower HF admission (P_logrank=0.042).

Dr. Kang-Un Choi concluded that with just one counseling session on nutrition before discharge, the intervention appears to have a positive impact on patients with acute HF. These findings emphasize the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in patient management.

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