ESC 2023 — Dr Robert Mentz (Duke University Medical Center, US) joins us to provide a succinct summary of the findings and key take-home messages from the HEART-FID study (NCT03037931).

HEART-FID aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of iron therapy using intravenous (IV) ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) as compared to a placebo in the treatment of patients with heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction and iron deficiency. 3065 patients were enrolled in this double-blinded, multicenter trial. After a 28-day screening period, participants were stratified by region and randomized in a 1:1 ratio, to receive either IV FCM, or a placebo for treatment.

Results suggest that FCM was safe in patients, and showed a modest improvement in the endpoint of all-cause mortality (1.7% ARR), heart failure hospitalisations and six-minute walking distance. The trial however did not achieve the pre-specified statistical significance level (P=0.019 with a specified level of 0.01.).

Questions:

1. What is the current landscape of FCM in HF treatment?
2. What was the patient population and study design?
3. What were the key findings?
4. What does this study add to the conversation surrounding FCM in recent years?
5. What are your take-home messages?
6. Where are the knowledge gaps?

Recorded on-site at ESC Congress 2023, Amsterdam. 

Editors: Mirjam Boros and Jordan Rance
Video Specialists: Dan Brent, Tom Green, Mike Knight, Oliver Miles