Current thinking regarding the use of diuretics in heart failure

Abstract

The majority of therapies used in the contemporary management of chronic heart failure (CHF) have been rigorously evaluated by means of large-scale clinical trials to assess their beneficial effects on quality of life and prognosis. Such therapies include angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, beta-blockers, and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Diuretics are the most commonly prescribed class of drugs in CHF patients and in the short term they remain the most efficacious treatment for relief from fluid congestion. There is, however, scant evidence to suggest that they confer any long term benefit in terms of disease progression or prognosis to the CHF sufferer. Injudicious use of diuretics has been demonstrated to be potentially harmful and consideration should be paid to avoiding dietary salt indiscretion as well as the pharmacokinetic properties of individual diuretics to achieve optimal diuretic response. In this article, we explore the current insight into the use of diuretics in CHF.