Hypokalemia with heart failure – Cardiology MCQ – Answer

Hypokalemia with heart failure – Cardiology MCQ – Answer

Which of the following is the last option in a patient with hypokalemia and heart failure? – Correct answer:  1. Oral potassium supplementation

Adding ACE inhibitors or ARB and MRA are much more important for the long term prognosis of heart failure. If these have not been added, adding them alone may control hypokalemia. These drugs should be uptitrated before considering oral potassium supplements. Thiazides have a higher potential to cause hypokalemia (≈0.6 mmol/l) than loop diuretics (≈0.3 mmol/l) in the usual doses.

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Reference

1. João Pedro Ferreira, Javed Butler, Patrick Rossignol, Bertram Pitt, Stefan D Anker, Mikhail Kosiborod, Lars H Lund, George L Bakris, Matthew R Weir, Faiez Zannad. Abnormalities of Potassium in Heart Failure: JACC State-of-the-Art Review. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020 Jun 9;75(22):2836-2850.