Increasing potassium levels improve outcomes in patients at high risk of ventricular arrhythmia


Notes to editor

This press release accompanies both a presentation and an ESC press conference at ESC Congress 2025.  

It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Society of Cardiology.  

 

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Funding: The trial received funding from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, the Danish Heart Foundation and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. 

Disclosures: Doctor Jons and Professor Bundgaard report no disclosures 

References and notes

1‘POTCAST – a randomized controlled trial of arrhythmia prevention using targeted plasma potassium levels in ICD patients’ presented during HOT LINE 1 on 29 August 2025 at 11:00 to 11:10 in Madrid (Main Auditorium) and simultaneously published in New England Journal of Medicine. 

2Ferreira JP, Butler J, Rossignol P, et al. Abnormalities of potassium in heart failure: JACC State-of-the-Art Review. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;75:2836–2850. 

3Pitt B, Zannad F, Remme WJ, et al. The effect of spironolactone on morbidity and mortality in patients with severe heart failure. Randomized Aldactone Evaluation Study Investigators. N Engl J Med. 1999;341:709–717. 

4Pitt B, Remme W, Zannad F, et al. Eplerenone, a selective aldosterone blocker, in patients with left ventricular dysfunction after myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med. 2003;348:1309–1321. 

5Zannad F, McMurray JJV, Krum H, et al. Eplerenone in patients with systolic heart failure and mild symptoms. N Engl J Med. 2011;364:11–21. 

6Vardeny O, Vaduganathan M, Claggett BL, et al. Finerenone, serum potassium, and clinical outcomes in heart failure with mildly reduced or preserved ejection fraction. JAMA Cardiol. 2025;10:42–48.  

 

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