n-3 PUFAs and heart failure

The risk of death of patients with heart failure (HF) is still too high in daily clinical practice despite the many progress that have occurred in the diagnosis and treatment of this syndrome that significantly reduce the mortality of these patients. Results of the GISSI-HF trial, the first and only large-scale clinical trial to date assessing the effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) in HF patients, showed that treatment of 100 patients saved almost 2 lives and prevented almost 2 cardiovascular hospitalisations, indicating that beneficial cardiovascular effects of n-3 PUFAs observed in other populations might also apply to patients with HF. Treatment with n-3 PUFAs may be considered as a new option to add to the shortlist of evidence-based life-prolonging therapies for HF, as suggested by the recent guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology. However, further large clinical trials are undoubtedly needed to give adequate answers to still open questions on the treatment of HF.