by Elana Gotkine

For patients with acute myocardial infarction at risk for heart failure, empagliflozin reduces the risk for heart failure hospitalization, according to a study published online April 6 in Circulation to coincide with the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from April 6 to 8 in Atlanta.

Adrian Hernandez, M.D., from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues examined the impact of empagliflozin on first and recurrent heart failure events in patients after myocardial infarction in a double-blind, randomized trial. The study included 6,522 patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction at risk for heart failure based on newly developed left ventricular ejection fraction of <45 percent and/or signs or symptoms of congestion.

The researchers found that the risk for first heart failure hospitalization and total heart failure hospitalizations was significantly lower in the empagliflozin group versus the placebo group during a median follow-up of 17.9 months (hazard ratio, 0.77 for first heart failure hospitalization; rate ratio, 0.67 for total heart failure hospitalizations).

For first and total heart failure hospitalizations, the benefit of empagliflozin was consistent across clinically relevant patient subgroups. Patients randomly assigned to empagliflozin had less postdischarge need for new use of diuretics, renin-angiotensin modulators, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists.

"These data suggest the potential role for empagliflozin in high-risk post-myocardial infarction patients in preventing heart failure hospitalizations," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, which manufacture empagliflozin and funded the study.

More information: Adrian F. Hernandez et al, Effect of Empagliflozin on Heart Failure Outcomes After Acute Myocardial Infarction: Insights from the EMPACT-MI Trial, Circulation (2024). DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.124.069217
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Journal information: Circulation 

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