Journal of Cardiac Failure

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Heart failure (HF) is 1 of the major challenges of our time, given its increase in prevalence and related mortality rates. Foundational pharmacological therapies, including angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors (ARNIs), beta-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs), and sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitors (SGLTis), have been established for HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Moreover, recent trials have established the role of SGLTis in patients with HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF)...

BACKGROUND: Despite guideline recommendations, many patients with heart failure (HF) do not receive target doses of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASis) in clinical practice due, in part, to concerns about hyperkalemia (HK). METHODS AND RESULTS: This non-interventional, multinational, multicenter registry (NCT04864795; 111 sites in Europe and the USA) enrolled 2,558 eligible adults with chronic HF (mostly with reduced ejection fraction [HFrEF])...

BACKGROUND: Tricuspid regurgitation (TR), prevalent in acute heart failure (AHF), has a poor prognosis; however, the dynamics of TR severity during hospitalization and its prognostic implications remain unclear. We investigated TR dynamism during hospitalization and its prognostic impact in AHF. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a post hoc analysis of a prospective multicenter study of patients with AHF who underwent echocardiographic TR severity evaluation at admission and before discharge...

AIMS: To evaluate whether early combination diuretic therapy guided by serial post-diuretic urine sodium concentration (UNa+ ) assessments in acute heart failure (AHF) facilitates safe and effective decongestion. METHODS: The Diuretic Treatment in Acute Heart Failure with Volume Overload Guided by Serial Spot Urine Sodium Assessment (DECONGEST) study is a pragmatic, 2-centre, randomized, parallel-arm, open-label study, aiming to enrol 104 patients with AHF and clinically evident fluid overload, requiring treatment with intravenous loop diuretics...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In the VICTORIA trial of participants with heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction, vericiguat (V) reduced the primary composite outcome [time to first HF hospitalization (HFH) or cardiovascular death (CVD)] (897 events) compared to placebo (P) (972 events) (hazard ratio, 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82-0.98; p=0.02). In this prespecified secondary analysis, we applied the weighted composite endpoint (WCE) and the win ratio (WR) methods to provide complementary assessments of treatment effect...

Potential race differences in cardiac structure and function among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are not well-understood but may have pathophysiologic and treatment implications. In this study, patients with HFpEF who self-identified as Asian (n=360), White (n=787), and Black (n=171) from three institutions underwent comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography to evaluate for potential differences. The Asian HFpEF group was oldest and the Black HFpEF group was youngest (75±12 vs...

The growth of digital health technology (DHT) has led to innovative technological solutions that can help improve patient care. However, the primary focus to date has been on the passive monitoring of patients, which poses difficulties in clinical integration and has not succeeded in optimizing care for chronic conditions. In this article, we highlight the move from a digital care model focused on the passive monitoring of medical conditions to one where holistic patient management is provided by dedicated external healthcare teams on a longitudinal basis...

Long-term outcomes of patients with advanced heart failure treated with durable left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have been augmented due to improved durability and hemocompatibility on the backbone of pump engineering enhancements. The incidence of hemocompatibility-related adverse events (pump thrombosis, stroke and non-surgical bleeding events) are device-specific and vary by type of engineered pump. A fully magnetically levitated rotor containing LVAD in concert with use of antithrombotic therapy has successfully overcome an increased risk of thrombosis albeit with only modest reduction in bleeding events...

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BACKGROUND: There is limited data comparing two gliflozins on their effect on biomarkers in diabetic patients with chronic heart failure. METHODS: A prospective, multicenter, active controlled, double-arm, investigator-initiated, interventional study enrolled 250 adults with T2DM and comorbid CHF (LVEF<40%; NT-proBNP >600pg/ml). 125 patients were allocated each to Remogliflozin (R) and Empagliflozin (E) group and followed up for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was the mean percentage change from baseline in NT-proBNP level after 24 weeks...

BACKGROUND: Anterior myocardial infarction standard of care prioritizes swift coronary reperfusion. Recent studies show left ventricular (LV) unloading with transvalvular axial-flow pumps for 30 minutes before reperfusion (versus immediate reperfusion) reduces 28-day infarct size. Intra-aortic entrainment pumping, using hardware located away from the heart to provide support throughout the cardiac cycle, reduce effective systemic vascular resistance, and augment visceral blood flow and pressure, may reproduce this benefit with reduced risk...

BACKGROUND: Clinical evidence regarding predictors of successful weaning from mechanical circulatory support (MCS) is lacking. This study aimed to create a simple risk score to predict successful weaning from MCS in patients with cardiogenic shock. METHODS: This retrospective single-center cohort study included 114 consecutive patients with cardiogenic shock treated with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or IMPELLA between January 2013 and June 2023...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: To elicit perspectives from specialist palliative care (SPC) and cardiology clinicians on the necessary components, delivery characteristics, and implementation strategies of successful ambulatory SPC for people with heart failure (HF). BACKGROUND: Palliative care is a recommended component of guideline-directed care for people with HF. However, optimal strategies to implement SPC within ambulatory settings are unknown. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative descriptive study comprised of semi-structured interviews with SPC and cardiology clinicians at Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs) with the highest number of ambulatory SPC consultations within the VA system among people with HF from 2021-2022...

Markers of social health, including kinlessness, social isolation, and loneliness, have important implications for quality of life and health for older adults. As the population ages, there is a growing cohort of kinless older adults without living partners or children, particularly among disadvantaged groups. Kinlessness has been associated with worse mental and physical health, significant unmet care needs, increased risk of dementia, higher rates of long-term placement, and higher mortality than for patients with kin...

Online education materials are widely used by patients and caregivers to understand the management of complex chronic diseases such as heart failure (HF). Organizations such as the American Medical Association and National Institutes of Health recommend that materials be written at a 6th grade reading level. The current study examined the readability and accessibility of online education materials for patients with HF. Whole page text from each included website was entered into an online readability calculator...