Recent study results confirm that two agents from the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor class can significantly cut the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFpEF), a disease especially common in people with type 2 diabetes, obesity, or both.

And findings from secondary analyses of the studies ― including one reported last week during the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2022 Annual Meeting ― show that these SGLT2 inhibitors work as well for cutting incident adverse events (cardiovascular death or worsening heart failure) in patients with HFpEF and diabetes as they do for people with normal blood glucose levels.

But delivering treatment with these proven agents, dapagliflozin (Farxiga) and empagliflozin (Jardiance), first requires diagnosis of HFpEF, a task that clinicians have historically fallen short in accomplishing.

Medscape talked to Dr. Mikhail Kosiborod, co-director of Saint Luke's Michael & Marlys Haverty Cardiometabolic Center of Excellence and Vice President of Research at Saint Luke's Health System, about how clinicians can be more diligent in evaluating people at high risk for developing HFpEF.

Read the full Medscape article: Improve Diagnosis of Type of Heart Failure Common in Diabetes