ACE and chronic kidney disease: Interestingly, in CAD-REF patients with a LVEF ≤40% the prescription of beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors and ARBs, and loop diuretics was higher in all CKD stages including stage 4 and 5 (Fig 3) compared to the whole cohort, which may indicate that cardiologists ranked the treatment of heart failure above potential harms on kidney function.