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The following is a summary of “Urate-lowering therapy in patients with hyperuricemia and heart failure: A retrospective cohort study using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink,” published in the June 2024 issue of Cardiology by Kiddle et al.

Higher serum uric acid (sUA) levels correlated to heart failure (HF). 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to explore whether urate-lowering therapy (ULT) is associated with reduced HF hospitalization (hHF) and mortality risk.

They analyzed data from patients with HF and either gout or hyperuricemia in the U.K. Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to Hospital Episode Statistics and the Office for National Statistics. Correlation between ULT initiation within 6 months of gout or hyperuricemia diagnosis affected risks of HF hospitalization and all-cause or cardiovascular-related mortality was examined using propensity score-matched cohort and adjusted Cox models. 

The results showed that of 2174 propensity score-matched pairs, most patients were older males with an average sUA level of 9.3 ± 1.8 mg/dL (ULT-exposed) and 9.4 ± 1.9 mg/dL (ULT-unexposed). Over 5 years, patients with an exposed ULT had a 43% lower risk of HF hospitalization or all-cause mortality ( aHR: 0.57, 95% CI: 0.51–0.65) and a 19% lower risk of HF hospitalization or cardiovascular-related mortality (aHR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.71–0.92) compared to those not exposed to ULT.

Investigators concluded that ULT lowered the risk of bad outcomes in patients with HF and gout or high uric acid levels over a 5-year period.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/clc.24297