THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The interim report of the National Heart Failure Registry (NHFR) — a first-of-its-kind initiative to look into the reasons for heart failure (HF), a chronic condition in which the heart muscles do not pump blood as well as it should be, at the national level — attributes ischaemic heart disease as the leading cause of HF. It is followed by dilated cardiomyopathy. In the case of frequent comorbidities, it is hypertension and diabetes.
The Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) here which came out with the findings, based on the analysis of 6, 437 patients from 50 centres in 24 states, is the national coordinator of the NHFR. The work on the registry had begun in January 2019.“We analysed the data of first consecutive 6,437 patients who had completed the 90-day follow-up in the NHFR. The mean age of the study population is 60.5 years,” said Harikrishnan S, professor of Cardiology at SCTIMST, who is also the NHFR principal investigator.
Further Harikrishnan said, “Men make up more than two-thirds(68.8 per cent) of the population. Ischaemic heart disease (which manifests as recurring chest pain or discomfort when a part of the heart does not receive enough blood) was the predominant etiology for HF (73 per cent), followed by dilated cardiomyopathy(17.2 per cent).
Rheumatic valvular heart disease was prevalent in 5.9 per cent of the study population. Hypertension and diabetes were the most frequent comorbidities at 48.5 per cent and 44.4 per cent, respectively.There was also incidence of chronic kidney disease in the study population.” According to him, less than half of the eligible patients received guideline-directed therapy and it reduces mortality. But he said the 90-day mortality rate (17.1 per cent) calls for a nation-wide audit and quality improvement initiatives.
In May 2019, SCTIMST had come out with the first clinical findings of NHFR after analysing 1,000 patients. It also flagged ischaemic heart disease as the leading cause of HF, with hypertension topping the list of comorbidities.Five leading hospitals in the state -- Lisie Hospital, Ernakulam, Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly, Caritas Hospital, Kottayam, Aster MIMS, Kozhikode, and Government Medical College, Kannur(Pariyaram), are now part of the NHFR which is supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR).