Bold heart failure treatment cuts deaths by two-thirds

Britons with heart failure are being given larger doses of drugs at the start of their treatment after a global trial found this drastically cut deaths.

- BRYONY GOOCH

St George’s Hospital in southwest London and Morriston Hospital in Swansea became the first two hospitals in the UK to treat patients with the innovative method, which those involved described as a “total game-changer” for the condition.

The hospitals were part of a multinational clinical trial, involving 87 hospitals in 14 countries, of an “aggressive” treatment for the potentially fatal condition.

Evidence from the study already suggests that the treatment has cut deaths by nearly two-thirds and lowered patients’ risk of returning to hospital by 30 per cent.

Heart failure affects 1 million people in the UK. The incurable condition means the heart can no longer pump blood around the body as effectively, leaving sufferers tired and breathless.