Heart Failure Clinics

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The practice of palliative care (PC) strives to mitigate patient suffering through aligning patient priorities and values with care planning and via improved understanding of complex physical, psychosocial, and spiritual stressors and dynamics that contribute to patient-centered outcomes. Through representative 'case examples' and supportive data, the role and value of a PC consultant, within the framework of a comprehensive adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) team caring for ACHD with advanced heart disease, are reviewed...

Heart failure in cyanotic congenital heart disease (CHD) is diagnosed clinically rather than relying solely on ventricular function assessments. Patients with cyanosis often present with clinical features indicative of heart failure. Although myocardial injury and dysfunction likely contribute to cyanotic CHD, the primary concern is the reduced delivery of oxygen to tissues. Symptoms such as fatigue, lassitude, dyspnea, headaches, myalgias, and a cold sensation underscore inadequate tissue oxygen delivery, forming the basis for defining heart failure in cyanotic CHD...

Already a challenging condition to define, adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) -associated heart failure (HF) often incorporates specific anatomies, including intracardiac and extracardiac shunts, which require rigorous diagnostic characterization and heighten the importance of clinicians proactively considering overall hemodynamic impacts of using specific therapies. The presence of elevated pulmonary vascular resistance dramatically increases the complexity of managing patients with ACHD-HF. Total circulatory management in patients with ACHD-HF requires input from multidisciplinary care teams and thoughtful and careful utilization of medical, interventional, and surgical approaches...

Surgical intervention is often used in the management of heart failure in patients with adult congenital heart disease. This review addresses anatomic variations and complications due to prior surgical interventions, including sternal reentry, collateral vessels, and the neo-aortic root after the Damus-Kaye-Stansel procedure. Surgical considerations for systemic atrioventricular valvular surgery, Fontan revision, and advanced heart failure therapies including ventricular assist devices, heart transplant, and combined heart-liver transplant are discussed, with a focus on unique patient populations including those with systemic right ventricles and those with Fontan circulation...

Cardiac imaging is pivotal in evaluating ventricular function, residual lesions, and long-term complications in patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). Longitudinal imaging in ACHD is key for the timely identification of patients requiring evaluation for advanced therapies. The guidelines recommend routine imaging surveillance. In all patients undergoing evaluation with cardiac imaging, it is critical that studies are performed at centers with expertise and that the imaging protocols are tailored to the specific condition...

Heart failure and arrhythmias represent 2 major causes of mortality and morbidity in adults with congenital heart disease. Arrhythmias and heart failure are interdependent, and one may exacerbate the other. Treatment of one also has a positive impact on the other. Management approaches need to be multifaceted, including pharmacotherapy, optimization of hemodynamic status with catheter-based or surgical interventions, and specific management of arrhythmia with device or catheter ablation therapy.

The rate of heart transplantation in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) is rising, but the 1-year mortality posttransplantation remains higher than non-ACHD patients. A robust pretransplant assessment and operative and postoperative planning can mitigate much of the perioperative risk. Importantly, ACHD patients who survive the first year have significantly better 10-year survival compared with non-ACHD patients. The current allocation system gives ACHD patients a relatively high priority, but providers must use the prespecified exception requests for higher status, especially for patients with the Fontan circulation...

Heart failure has become the leading cause of mortality in adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients after the fifth decade of life. There is scanty evidence supporting the use of guideline-directed medical therapy in ACHD, especially in systemic right ventricle or single ventricle physiology. In complex patients, diagnosing heart failure and timely referral for advanced therapies are challenging. Mechanical circulatory support has been significantly developed over the past decade and has recently emerged as a feasible therapeutic option for these patients...

Heart failure (HF) is common in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD), and it is the leading cause of death in this population. Adults with CHD presenting with stage D HF have a poor prognosis, and early recognition of signs of advanced HF and referral for advanced therapies for HF offer the best survival as compared with other therapies. The indications for advanced therapies for HF outlined in this article should serve as a guide for clinicians to determine the optimal time for referral. Palliative care should be part of the multidisciplinary care model for HF in patients with CHD...

Heart failure (HF) in adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) is an increasingly common problem facing ACHD and advanced heart disease and transplant providers. Patients are highly nuanced, and therapies are poorly studied. Standard HF medications are often used in patients who are not targets of large clinical trials. HF management in this data-free zone requires focused, comprehensive team-based care and close follow-up and communication with patients.

There is a growing, aging population of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) with an increasing incidence of heart failure. Unquestioning extrapolation of widely applicable definitions of heart failure and guidelines for managing heart failure in adults with acquired heart failure to adults with CHD can be problematic. A nuanced and flexible application of clinical judgment founded on a deep understanding of underlying pathophysiology is needed to most effectively apply the many recent advances in managing acquired heart failure to the care of adults with CHD...

Adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) are facing lifelong complications, notably heart failure (HF). This review focuses on classifications, incidence, prevalence, and mortality of HF related to ACHD. Diagnosing HF in ACHD is intricate due to anatomic variations, necessitating comprehensive clinical evaluations. Hospitalizations and resource consumption for ACHD HF have significantly risen compared with non-ACHD HF patients. With more than 30% prevalence in complex cases, HF has become the leading cause of death in ACHD...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD) is a common cause of ischemia but no obstructive coronary artery disease that results in an inability of the coronary microvasculature to meet myocardial oxygen demand. CMD is challenging to diagnose and manage due to a lack of mechanistic research and targeted therapy. Recent evidence suggests we can improved patient outcomes by stratifying antianginal therapies according to the diagnosis revealed by invasive assessment of the coronary microcirculation. This review article appraises the evidence for management of CMD, which includes treatment of cardiovascular risk, antianginal therapy and therapy for atherosclerosis...

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) or cardiac transplantation are the two prevailing methods of treating patients with end-stage heart failure. The availability of donor hearts is insufficient to meet the needs of patients with advanced heart failure. LVADs offer a potential alternative to transplantation for those patients who cannot wait or are otherwise unsuited for cardiac transplantation. The field has made tremendous progress in the past 20 years. In this review, the current state of the art is summarized with respect to current generation LVADs...

Preload reserve represents an important concept in the normal physiologic responses of the body to meet the changing metabolic demands. The recruitment of preload in healthy patients leads to an increase in effective circulating blood volume with a concomitant increase in cardiac output. However, in the setting of heart failure (HF), preload augmentation may precipitate HF decompensation. In this review, we focus on the role of splanchnic nerve modulation and pharmacological therapeutic interventions to prevent HF decompensation through preload reduction...

Elevated left atrial pressure during exercise is a hallmark of heart failure (HF) and is associated with adverse left atrial remodeling and poor outcomes. To decompress the pressure-overloaded left atrium in patients with HF, several device-based approaches have been developed to create a permanent, pressure-dependent, left-to-right interatrial shunt. Such approaches are currently in various stages of investigations in both HF with reduced ejection fraction (EF) and HF with preserved EF. This review discusses the evolution of the concept of left atrial decompression and summarizes the current landscape of device-based approaches used for left atrial decompression...

Cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) is a novel therapeutic approach for heart failure patients, which utilizes nonexcitatory electrical myocardial stimulation in the absolute refractory period of the cardiac cycle. This stimulation has been shown to increase contractility, leading to improved heart failure symptoms, functional status, and quality of life. CCM is FDA approved for heart failure patients with an LVEF between 25% and 45% who remained symptomatic despite optimal medical therapy and not candidate of cardiac resynchronization therapy...