[Pulmonary artery pressure sensor for ambulatory assessment of ventricular filling pressure in advanced heart failure : What should be considered for the follow-up care?]

BACKGROUND: Patients with advanced heart failure suffer from frequent hospitalizations. Noninvasive hemodynamic telemonitoring for assessment of pulmonary filling pressure has been shown to reduce hospitalizations. In this article, our experience with possible control intervals and the standardization of the follow-up care of hemodynamic telemonitoring is reported.

METHODS: A literature search and our own experience in the follow-up care concerning the implantable pulmonary artery pressure sensor for noninvasive hemodynamic telemonitoring in patients with advanced heart failure are presented.

RESULTS: For standardized follow-up care of heart failure patients with hemodynamic monitoring a specialized team consisting of a heart failure nurse and heart failure physician is essential. These teams should ideally work based on a unique standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure standardized control intervals and a standardized approach to classical hemodynamic changes. However, all therapeutic recommendations have to be prescribed by a physician and must be modified if individually appropriate.

CONCLUSION: Optimized follow-up care for hemodynamically guided heart failure management requires the implementation of novel structures in the German health care system in order to transfer the clinical benefit from clinical trials into daily routine.