In Aldosterone Targeted Neurohormonal Combined with Natriuresis Therapy in Heart Failure (ATHENA‐HF), high‐dose spironolactone (100 mg daily) did not improve efficacy endpoints over usual care [placebo or continued low‐dose spironolactone (25 mg daily) in patients already receiving spironolactone] in the treatment of acute heart failure (HF). We hypothesized that low concentrations of the long‐acting

Guidelines recommend down‐titration of loop diuretics (LD) once euvolaemia is achieved. In outpatients with heart failure (HF), we investigated LD dose changes in daily cardiology practice, agreement with guideline recommendations, predictors of successful LD down‐titration and association between dose changes and outcomes.

Lung congestion in patients with heart failure (HF) has traditionally been treated using interventions that reduce pulmonary capillary hydrostatic pressure. The transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) channel regulates fluid transit across the pulmonary capillary‐interface, and represents a novel target to reduce lung water, independent of pulmonary capillary hypertension. This pilot study

To examine the rates of all‐cause mortality and heart failure (HF) readmission in patients hospitalized with decompensated HF according to HF duration – new‐onset HF and worsening of chronic HF.

Over the last 30 years, many medicine development programmes in acute and chronic heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) have failed, in contrast to those in HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). We explore how the neutral results in larger HF trials may be attributable to chance and/or the dilution of statistical power.

The use of circulating biomarkers for heart failure (HF) is engrained in contemporary cardiovascular practice and provides objective information about various pathophysiological pathways associated with HF syndrome. However, biomarker profiles differ considerably among women and men. For instance, in the general population, markers of cardiac stretch (natriuretic peptides) and fibrosis (galectin‐3)

The effects of vericiguat vs. placebo on high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hsCRP) and serum uric acid (SUA) were assessed in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in the Phase 2 SOCRATES‐REDUCED study (NCT01951625).

Several studies have shown that older patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) are undertreated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of up‐titration of angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and beta‐blockers on outcome across the age spectrum in HFrEF patients.

Non‐cardiac comorbidities are highly prevalent in patients with heart failure (HF). Our objective was to define the association between non‐cardiac comorbidity burden and clinical outcomes, costs of care, and length of stay within a large randomized trial of acute HF patients.

Chronic hyperglycaemia, assessed by elevated glycated haemoglobin (A1C), is a known risk factor for heart failure (HF) and cardiovascular (CV) death among subjects with diabetes. Whether this risk varies with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is unknown. This study evaluated whether A1C influences a composite outcome of either HF hospitalization or CV death differently along the spectrum of

Cancer patients suffer from impaired cardiovascular function. Elevated resting heart rate (RHR) has been identified as a marker for increased long‐term mortality in cancer patients prior to the receipt of anticancer treatment. We aimed to establish whether RHR is associated with survival in treatment‐naïve cancer patients.

Heart failure (HF) is the major contributor to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Given its rising prevalence, the costs of HF care can be expected to increase. Multidisciplinary management of HF can improve quality of care and survival. However, specialized HF programmes are not widely available in most European countries. These circumstances underlie the suggestion of the Heart Failure Association

To examine the impact of palliative care on acute care hospitalizations, survival, symptoms, and quality of life (QOL) in patients with advanced heart failure.

Exergaming is a new tool to increase physical activity. This study aimed to determine the effects of access to a home‐based exergame (Nintendo Wii) in patients with heart failure (HF) on exercise capacity, self‐reported physical activity and patient‐reported outcome measures.

Low cardiac iron levels promote heart failure in experimental models. While cardiac iron concentration (CI) is decreased in patients with advanced heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), CI has never been measured in non‐advanced HFrEF. We measured CI in left ventricular (LV) endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) from patients with non‐advanced HFrEF and explored CI association with systemic

Patient‐reported quality of life (QOL) is a highly prognostic and clinically relevant endpoint in patients with heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The relationships between QOL and different markers of HF severity remain unclear, particularly as they relate to functional capacity and directly measured activity levels. We hypothesized that QOL would demonstrate a stronger relationship

Although left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is routinely used to categorize patients with heart failure (HF), whether it predicts outcomes after hospitalization for acute heart failure (AHF) is uncertain. Consequently, we assessed the relationship between LVEF and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in a large, well characterized cohort of patients hospitalized for AHF.

Making a firm diagnosis of chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains a challenge. We recommend a new stepwise diagnostic process, the ‘HFA–PEFF diagnostic algorithm’. Step 1 (P=Pre‐test assessment) is typically performed in the ambulatory setting and includes assessment for heart failure symptoms and signs, typical clinical demographics (obesity, hypertension, diabetes

Heart failure (HF) constitutes the growing cardiovascular burden and the major public health issue, but comprehensive statistics on HF epidemiology and related management in Europe are missing. The Heart Failure Association (HFA) Atlas has been initiated in 2016 in order to close this gap, representing the continuity directly rooted in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Atlas of Cardiology. The

AIMS Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy reduces mortality in patients with heart failure and current guidelines advise implantation of ICDs in patients with a life expectancy of >1 year. We examined trends in all-cause mortality in patients who underwent primary or secondary prevention ICD placement in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health System. METHODS AND RESULTS US veterans receiving

AIMS Patients with advanced heart failure (AdHF) who are ineligible for heart transplantation (HTx) can become candidates for treatment with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in some countries, but not others. This reflects the lack of a systematic analysis of the usefulness of LVAD systems in this context, and of their benefits, limitations and cost-effectiveness. The SWEdish evaluation of left

AIMS To characterize the prevalence and clinical relevance of malnutrition in patients undergoing transcatheter tricuspid valve edge-to-edge repair (TTVR). METHODS AND RESULTS Overall, 86 consecutive patients (mean age 78 ± 7 years) with moderate-to-severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) at prohibitive surgical risk were analysed. Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), quality of life assessment, 6-min walk

AIMS Urinary sodium assessment has recently been proposed as a target for loop diuretic therapy in acute heart failure (AHF). We aimed to investigate the time course, clinical correlates and prognostic importance of urinary sodium excretion in AHF. METHODS AND RESULTS In a prospective cohort of 175 consecutive patients with an admission for AHF we evaluated urinary sodium excretion 6 h after initiation

AIMS Few studies describe recent changes in the prevalence, management, and outcomes of cardiogenic shock (CS) patients complicating acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the era of widespread use of invasive strategies. The aim of the present study was to analyse trends observed in CS complicating AMI over the past 10 years, focusing on the timing of CS occurrence (i.e. primary CS, CS on admission

AIMS Concomitant cardiac amyloidosis (CA) in severe aortic stenosis (AS) is difficult to recognize, since both conditions are associated with concentric left ventricular thickening. We aimed to assess type, frequency, screening parameters, and prognostic implications of CA in AS. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 191 consecutive AS patients (81.2 ± 7.4 years; 50.3% female) scheduled for transcatheter

AIMS Hyperkalaemia and hypokalaemia are common in heart failure and associated with worse outcomes. However, the optimal potassium range is unknown. We sought to determine the optimal range of potassium in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (< 40%) by exploring the relationship between baseline potassium level and short- and long-term outcomes using the Swedish Heart Failure

BACKGROUND Chemo- and radiotherapy for breast cancer (BC) can lead to cardiotoxicity even years after the initial treatment. The pathophysiology behind these late cardiac effects is poorly understood. Therefore, we studied a large panel of biomarkers from different pathophysiological domains in long-term BC survivors, and compared these to matched controls. METHODS AND RESULTS In total 91 biomarkers

AIMS Women with heart failure (HF) are under-represented in individual randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Little is known about sex-specific treatment effects in HF medications. We evaluated sex differences in the response to mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) in major HF MRA trials, including a broad spectrum of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). METHODS AND RESULTS Individual patient

AIMS There is an important need for better biomarkers to predict left ventricular (LV) remodelling in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). We undertook a comprehensive assessment of cardiac structure and myocardial composition to determine predictors of remodelling. METHODS AND RESULTS Prospective study of patients with recent-onset DCM with cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) assessment of ventricular

AIM To evaluate the impact of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) on 3-year outcomes in patients with left main coronary artery disease (LMCAD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in the EXCEL trial. METHODS AND RESULTS The EXCEL trial randomized patients with LMCAD to PCI with everolimus-eluting stents (n = 948) or CABG (n = 957). Among

In five large-scale trials involving >40 000 patients, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors decreased the risk of serious heart failure events by 25-40%. This effect cannot be explained by control of hyperglycaemia, since it is not observed with antidiabetic drugs with greater glucose-lowering effects. It cannot be attributed to ketogenesis, since it is not causally linked to ketone body

AIM Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is an intensively studied biomarker at the crossroads of cardiovascular disease, heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease. Independent associations between increasing FGF23 levels and cardiovascular events were found in many, but not all studies. By analysing data from the TIME-CHF cohort, we sought to investigate the prognostic value of FGF23 in an elderly

Ischaemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) represents an important cardiovascular condition associated with substantially increased morbidity and mortality. It is characterised from a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations and pathophysiological substrates and its diagnosis is based on the demonstration of significant left ventricular dysfunction in the context of significant epicardial coronary artery disease

AIMS Treatment options for patients with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are limited. We sought to determine whether biventricular (BiV) pacing improves exercise capacity in HCM patients, and whether this is via augmented diastolic filling. METHODS AND RESULTS Thirty-one patients with symptomatic non-obstructive HCM were enrolled. Following device implantation, patients underwent

AIMS We aimed to assess carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) prevalence in transthyretin (TTR)-related and light-chain amyloidosis (AL), comparing it to the general population, adjusted for age and gender. In TTR-related amyloidosis (ATTR) we investigated (i) CTS prevalence in relation to genotype, cardiac amyloidosis (CA), age and gender; (ii) CTS role as an incremental risk factor for CA; (iii) temporal

AIM Istaroxime is a first-in-class agent which acts through inhibition of the sarcolemmal Na+ /K+ pump and activation of the SERCA2a pump. This study assessed the effects of a 24 h infusion of istaroxime in patients hospitalised for acute heart failure (AHF). METHODS AND RESULTS We included patients hospitalised for AHF with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% and E/e' > 10. Patients were randomised

AIM The impact of the anti-inflammatory potential of diet on risk of heart failure (HF) and the potential modification of this association by smoking, a trigger of systemic inflammation, has not been previously investigated. We examined the association between anti-inflammatory potential of diet and risk of HF taking into account smoking status. METHODS AND RESULTS The study population included the