BACKGROUNDThere have been no mortality/morbidity endpoint studies with losartan in Chinese heart failure patients. The objective was to evaluate the effects of high-dose vs. low-dose losartan on clinical outcomes in Chinese subjects with heart failure.

METHODSThis study was a post hoc analysis of the Heart failure Endpoint evaluation of Angiotensin II Antagonist losartan (HEAAL) trial (n = 545). Chinese adults with symptomatic heart failure (New York Heart Association (NYHA) II-IV) intolerant of treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors were randomized to losartan 150 mg or 50 mg daily. The primary endpoint was the composite event rate of all-cause death or hospitalization for heart failure. Safety and tolerability were assessed.

RESULTSMedian follow-up was 4.8 years. Baseline characteristics were generally similar to the overall HEAAL cohort. Overall, 120 (44.1%) subjects in the losartan 150 mg group and 137 (50.2%) subjects in the losartan 50 mg group died (any cause) or were hospitalized for heart failure (hazard ratio (OR) 0.807, 95%CI 0.631 - 1.031). There were no notable differences between treatment groups in the proportion of subjects with adverse experiences.

CONCLUSIONThe results of this post hoc analysis in Chinese subjects, although not powered to show significance, were generally consistent with the main study results, which demonstrated a significantly reduced risk of all cause death or hospitalization for heart failure with daily losartan 150 mg vs. losartan 50 mg in subjects with symptomatic heart failure and intolerance to ACE inhibitors, supporting the use of the higher dose for optimum clinical benefit.