Effect of Sacubitril/Valsartan for alleviating chronic heart failure in elderly patients after acute myocardial infarction

Objective To evaluate the effect of Sacubitril/Valsartan for alleviating chronic heart failure(CHF)in elderly patients after acute myocardial infarction(AMI). Methods A total of 87 elderly patients with AMI-induced CHF treated in Heze Shili Hospital from October 2017 to August 2018 were enrolled and randomly divided into the experimental group(n=42)and the control group(n=45). All patients were given standard AMI treatments, and patients in the experimental group were given Sacubitril/Valsartan(100 mg bid)while those in the control group received Valsartan(80 mg qd). After a follow-up of 12 months, levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVDd), left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), rates of rehospitalization for heart failure and all-cause mortality were compared between the two groups. Results Among the 87 patients, 51 patients(58.6%)were male and 36 were female, with an averageage of(67.4±4.0)years.After 12-months of treatment, patients in the experimental group were associated with significantly lower levels of LVDd[(47.86±3.86)mm vs.(50.73±4.39)mm, P<0.05]and NT-proBNP[(793.43±335.43)ng/L vs.(1 068.44±344.46)ng/L, P<0.05]and higher levels of LVEF[(53.74±4.08)% vs.(44.42±7.41)%, P<0.05]than those in the control group.Moreover, the rehospitalization rate for heart failure was markedly higher in the control group than that in the experimental group[15(33.3%)vs.5(11.9%), P<0.05], while the rate of all-cause mortality was similar between the two groups[2(4.8%)vs.3(6.7%), P=0.703]. Conclusions Compared with Valsartan, Sacubitril/Valsartan can reduce the incidence of CHF after AMI, improve left ventricular function, and reduce the rehospitalization rate due to CHF in elderly patients. Key words: Myocardial infarction; Heart failure; Neprilysin