Despite guideline-directed medical therapy, about half of U.S. heart failure patients have elevated cardiovascular inflammation, a POSEIDON registry subanalysis found. The risk was tied to obesity, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease across all ejection fraction types. Experts say the findings highlight a major treatment gap — and note that dedicated anti-inflammatory therapies have so far come up short.
About half of U.S. heart failure (HF) patients have elevated cardiovascular inflammation — and their standard medications aren't resolving it. That's the headline finding from a new subanalysis of the POSEIDON registry, presented at the Heart Failure Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. Elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP ≥2 mg/L) was detected in roughly 50% of patients across all HF subtypes, a rate notably higher than the global POSEIDON cohort spanning 18 countries.
The inflammatory burden was closely linked to comorbidities like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, and correlated with higher levels of IL-6 and NT-proBNP — biomarkers tied to inflammation severity and HF progression. More advanced HF symptoms (worse NYHA class) were also associated with higher inflammatory risk, particularly in patients with reduced ejection fraction.
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Why it matters: There's currently no approved anti-inflammatory therapy specifically for HF — and recent trials of the IL-6 inhibitor ziltivekimab were stopped early for futility. Researchers suggest broader, multi-pathway approaches may be the next frontier, but the treatment gap remains wide open.
