Cited by 4,874Heart Failure Treatment and ManagementDiabetes Treatment and ManagementCardiovascular Function and Risk Factors

Empagliflozin in heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction

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Anker, Stefan D., Butler, Javed, Filippatos, Gerasimos, Ferreira, João P., Bocchi, Edimar, Böhm, Michael, Brunner–La Rocca, Hans-Peter, Choi, Dong-Ju +33 more·2021·New England Journal of Medicine

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors reduce the risk of hospitalization for heart failure in patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction, but their effects in patients with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction are uncertain. METHODS: In this double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 5988 patients with class II-IV heart failure and an ejection fraction of more than 40% to receive empagliflozin (10 mg once daily) or placebo, in addition to usual therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure. RESULTS: Over a median of 26.2 months, a primary outcome event occurred in 415 of 2997 patients (13.8%) in the empagliflozin group and in 511 of 2991 patients (17.1%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69 to 0.90; P<0.001). This effect was mainly related to a lower risk of hospitalization for heart failure in the empagliflozin group. The effects of empagliflozin appeared consistent in patients with or without diabetes. The total number of hospitalizations for heart failure was lower in the empagliflozin group than in the placebo group (407 with empagliflozin and 541 with placebo; hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.61 to 0.88; P<0.001). Uncomplicated genital and urinary tract infections and hypotension were reported more frequently with empagliflozin. CONCLUSIONS: Empagliflozin reduced the combined risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure in patients with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction, regardless of the presence or absence of diabetes. (Funded by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly; EMPEROR-Preserved ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03057951).

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  • SGLT2 inhibitors are safe and effective at eGFR levels of >20 mL/min/1.73m2.

    “Subgroup analyses from DAPA-CKD (117) and analyses from the EMPEROR heart failure trials suggest that SGLT2 inhibitors are safe and effective at eGFR levels of >20 mL/min/1.73m 2 .”

    From 11. Chronic Kidney Disease and Risk Management: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025 (2025) · cites this paper as [118]

    The Primary Outcome and Safety sections report that empagliflozin improved heart-failure outcomes and give overall adverse-event results. The trial analyzed kidney-function subgroups at an eGFR cutoff of 60 mL/min/1.73 m², but our copy does not establish efficacy or safety specifically down to >20 mL/min/1.73 m². (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • The EMPEROR-Reduced and EMPEROR-Preserved trials allowed enrollment of patients with an eGFR as low as 20 ml/min per 1.73 m2.

    “The EMPEROR-Reduced 101 and EMPEROR-Preserved 102 trials, although not an exclusive CKD population, did allow enrollment of patients with an eGFR as low as 20 ml/min per 1.73 m 2.”

    From KDIGO 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline for Diabetes Management in Chronic Kidney Disease (2022) · cites this paper as [102]

    The Patients section identifies this as the EMPEROR-Preserved heart-failure trial, and Patient Characteristics and Randomization reports that about half of participants had an eGFR below 60 ml/min per 1.73 m². Our copy does not state that enrollment was allowed down to 20 ml/min per 1.73 m²; the Patients section refers readers to a supplementary appendix for the detailed eligibility criteria. The EMPEROR-Reduced trial is attached to a separate citation in the citing sentence. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • In EMPEROR-Preserved and EMPEROR-Reduced, efficacy was seen at eGFR >20 mL/min/1.73m2 in people with heart failure.

    “enrollment criteria included eGFR >60 mL/min/1.73m 2 , but efficacy was seen at eGFR >20 mL/min/1.73m 2 in people with heart failure.”

    From 11. Chronic Kidney Disease and Risk Management: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026 (2026) · cites this paper as [134]

    The paper reports that empagliflozin reduced the combined risk of cardiovascular death or heart-failure hospitalization in EMPEROR-Preserved (Abstract, page unavailable), and its Discussion shows benefit in an eGFR subgroup below 60 mL/min/1.73 m². Our copy does not establish efficacy specifically down to an eGFR of 20 or report an eGFR-specific result for EMPEROR-Reduced. The Patient Characteristics section also says nearly half of EMPEROR-Preserved participants had eGFR below 60, rather than describing enrollment as limited to those above 60. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • In EMPEROR-Preserved, the primary outcome of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure was reduced in adults with NYHA functional class I-IV and chronic HFpEF (LVEF >40%), irrespective of the presence of type 2 diabetes.

    “In Empagliflozin Outcome Trial in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction (EMPEROR-Preserved), the primary outcome of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure was reduced in adults with NYHA functional class I-IV and chronic HFpEF (LVEF >40%), extending the previously seen benefit in people with heart failure to those with preserved ejection fraction”

    From 10. Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Management: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025 (2025) · cites this paper as [250]

    The Discussion reports a lower risk of cardiovascular death or heart-failure hospitalization with empagliflozin in patients with preserved ejection fraction, including those with or without diabetes. The Patients section specifies adults with LVEF >40% but lists NYHA class II–IV as the eligibility criterion, not I–IV. Table 1 records four class I participants; that does not establish the claimed class I–IV study population. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The SGLT2 inhibitors empagliflozin, canagliflozin, and dapagliflozin reduce the incidence of heart failure and improve heart failure-related outcomes, including hospitalization for heart failure and heart failure-related symptoms, in people with diabetes with preserved or reduced ejection fraction.

    “The SGLT2 inhibitors empagliflozin, canagliflozin, and dapagliflozin reduce the incidence of heart failure and improve heart failure–related outcomes, including hospitalization for heart failure and heart failure–related symptoms, in people with diabetes with preserved or reduced ejection fraction (242,247,248,281,286–294).”

    From 10. Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Management: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026 (2026) · cites this paper as [242]

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References 16 · Cited by 4,874

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [15]15. Butler J, Anker SD, Packer M. Rede- fining heart failure with a reduced ejec- tion fraction. JAMA 2019; 322: 1761-2.

Authors
Anker, S. D., Butler, J., Filippatos, G., Ferreira, J. P., Bocchi, E., Böhm, M., Brunner–La Rocca, H.-P., Choi, D.-J., Chopra, V., Chuquiure-Valenzuela, E., Giannetti, N., Gomez-Mesa, J. E., Janssens, S., Januzzi, J. L., Gonzalez-Juanatey, J. R., Merkely, B., Nicholls, S. J., Perrone, S. V., Piña, I. L., Ponikowski, P., Senni, M., Sim, D., Spinar, J., Squire, I., Taddei, S., Tsutsui, H., Verma, S., Vinereanu, D., Zhang, J., Carson, P., Lam, C. S. P., Marx, N., Zeller, C., Sattar, N., Jamal, W., Schnaidt, S., Schnee, J. M., Brueckmann, M., Pocock, S. J., Zannad, F., & Packer, M.
Affiliations
  • Inserm (FR)
  • From the Department of Cardiology (CVK) and the Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) partner site Berlin, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin (S.D.A.), Universitätsklinikum des Saarlandes, Homberg (M. Böhm), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen (N.M.), Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma, Biberach (C.Z., S.S.), Boehringer Ingelheim International, Ingelheim (W.J., M. Brueckmann), and the Faculty of Medicine Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim (M. Brueckmann) — all in Germany; the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson (J.B.); National and Kapodistrian University of Athens School of Medicine, Athens (G.F.); Université de Lorraine, INSERM, Centre d’Investigations Cliniques Plurithématique 1433, and INSERM Unité 1116, CHRU, F-CRIN INI-CRCT (Cardiovascular and Renal Clinical Trialists) (J.P.F.), and Université de Lorraine, INSERM INI-CRCT, CHRU (F.Z.) — both in Nancy, France; the Cardiovascular Research and Development...
Venue
New England Journal of Medicine
Published
2021-10-14
Volume
385
Issue
16
Pages
1451-1461
ISSN
  • 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-4406
OpenAlex
W3193297191
Cited by
4,874
References
16
Citations by year
2026: 793 · 2025: 968 · 2024: 952 · 2023: 1008 · 2022: 989 · 2021: 156 · 2019: 1 · 2012: 1
FWCI
522.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
  • Repositorio Institucional UCA (Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (University of Pisa) (submittedVersion)
  • BOA (University of Milano-Bicocca) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nd)
  • Lirias (KU Leuven) (submittedVersion)
  • Site cant be reached (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion)
  • PuSH - Publication Server of Helmholtz Zentrum München (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Boehringer Ingelheim
  • Eli Lilly and Company
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Failure Treatment and Management
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Treatment and Management
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiovascular Function and Risk Factors
Keywords
empagliflozin, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, SGLT2 inhibitors, heart failure hospitalization, cardiovascular mortality, diabetes mellitus, hypotension
MeSH terms
Sodium-Glucose Transporter 2 Inhibitors, Adult, Benzhydryl Compounds, Cardiovascular Diseases, Chronic Disease, Double-Blind Method, Female, Glucosides, Heart Failure, Hospitalization, Humans, Male, Stroke Volume

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