Tirzepatide use in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and obesity in clinical practice
A Villarreal Rizzo, H C Heien, H K Van Houten, L R Sangaralingham, X Yao, S M DunlayAbstract
Background
Recent studies suggested that treating obesity and its comorbidities with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists may improve outcomes in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The randomized SUMMIT trial found that tirzepatide use was associated with a lower risk of heart failure (HF) events or cardiovascular death in adults with HFpEF and obesity compared with placebo.
Purpose
We aimed to examine whether tirzepatide use in clinical practice was associated with risks of HF events and all-cause mortality among adults with HFpEF and obesity.
Methods
This was a retrospective cohort study leveraging the Optum Labs Data Warehouse (OLDW), a de-identified administrative claims database of commercial and Medicare Advantage enrollees across the United States. We identified all adults with HFpEF and obesity from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024. Our primary exposure was tirzepatide use, and our primary outcome was a composite of a HF event (ED visits or hospitalization for HF) or mortality. Secondary outcomes included hospitalization for angina, atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter (AF/AFL), acute myocardial infarction (MI), cardiac arrest, and cardiogenic shock. Patients were followed from the index date, defined as the tirzepatide treatment start date after HFpEF diagnosis or pseudo-index date in tirzepatide non-users, to the end of enrollment or death using the intention-to-treat framework. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was used to balance groups. Fracture, conjunctivitis, ear infection, and fungal skin infection were used as falsification endpoints. Cox-proportional and Fine-Gray subdistribution hazard models were used to estimate a hazard ratio (HR) and subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR), respectively.
Results
Among our total cohort of 99,270 patients, the mean age was 73 years, 58,616 (59.1%) were female, 8,839 (8.9%) used tirzepatide, and the mean follow-up time was about 385 days. Patients using tirzepatide had a significantly lower risk of a HF event or mortality (HR=0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.66–0.80; p<0.001) compared to patients not using tirzepatide. Patients using tirzepatide had a lower risk of a HF event (SHR=0.80; 95% CI=0.73–0.88; p<0.001) and all-cause mortality (HR=0.48; 95% CI=0.38–0.60; p<0.001). Tirzepatide use was associated with lower risks of hospitalization for acute MI (SHR=0.67; 95% CI=0.52–0.85; p=0.001) and cardiogenic shock (SHR=0.56; 95% CI=0.38–0.83; p=0.003), but not angina, AF/AFL, or cardiac arrest (Figure 1).
Conclusion
Among adults with HFpEF and obesity, tirzepatide use in real-world clinical practice was associated with a lower risk of HF events, hospitalizations for acute cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality.For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text.