Heart Failure

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Susan Quaggin, MD, FASN, a nephrologist and the chief of nephrology/hypertension and director of the Feinberg Cardiovascular and Renal Research Institute at Northwestern University, as well as current president of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN). She discusses the recommendations of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and ASN Task Force on Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosing Kidney Diseases and what comes next for laboratories, clinicians, and patients.

For patients with heart failure and cardiovascular disease, high intensity interval training has a greater positive effect on cardiorespiratory fitness than moderate intensity continuous training.

Long-awaited reports released Thursday call for eliminating race in estimated glomerular filtration rate equations and point to alternatives in an effort to eliminate disparities in chronic kidney disease.

With empagliflozin, we now have evidence that another treatment for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is possible, said Stefan Anker, MD, PhD, FESC, professor of cardiology, Department of Cardiology, Charité Campus Virchow Clinic, Berlin, Germany, and principal investigator of the EMPEROR-Preserved study.

This study found that switching from a conventional troponin assay to a high-sensitivity troponin assay resulted in changes to diagnosis patterns and stress testing trends.

The 6-month program provides nutrition education, healthy food and recipes, and home visits.

Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan) was first approved for use in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in 2015.

In a panel at the 5th annual Heart in Diabetes Conference, John McMurray, MD, and Javed Butler, MD, highlighted recent pharmacological developments in heart failure (HF) and offered insights on overlooked areas in the field.

The Lancet commission aimed to connect stakeholders, raise global awareness of these inequities and disparities, and encourage future research.

Treatment for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) may soon resemble that for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), noted Javed Butler, MD, MPH, MBA, of the University of Mississippi.

Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have been shown to both lower blood pressure and promote weight loss, and they act rather subtly, stated Rudolf de Boer, MD, PhD, clinical cardiologist and professor of translational cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands.

STEP findings build on those from the SPRINT trial, seemingly confirming that intensive treatment for hypertension can reduce the risk of serious adverse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes. However, there was no significant benefit toward risk for all-cause and CV-related mortality.

Although there is an established link between type 2 myocardial infarction (T2MI) and elevated rates of cardiovascular events, less is known about the connection between T2MI and heart failure—which this new study investigated.

Because cardiac fibrosis can develop under very diverse etiological circumstances, it is extremely heterogeneous.

Comorbid cardiac dysfunction and intrarenal venous congestion were shown in this new study to have a negative correlation with survival outcomes among individuals with all levels of heart failure.

Event-free survival rates were higher in women compared with men for all-cause mortality and first heart failure hospitalization.

The authors called for screening women for diabetes during pregnancy.

Individuals with a history of Plasmodium falciparum protozoan parasitic infection had a significantly increased long-term risk of developing heart failure but not myocardial infarction or cardiovascular or all-cause death.

The pandemic has exacerbated not only cardiovascular care, but also the mental health of patients, noted Mariana Garcia, MD, cardiology fellow in the Academic Clinical Investigator Pathway at Emory University and member of T32, Multidisciplinary Research Training to Reduce Inequalities in Cardiovascular Health (METRIC).

The study found that more than a third of patients who were obese said they did not receive advice on physical activity or nutrition in order to lose weight, and nearly 1 in 5 said they were not even told they were overweight.

We do not yet know the exact mechanism of action of sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in heart failure (HF), but there are many exciting pssibilities, stated Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Patients should continue to be monitored while on treatment with SGLT2 inhibitors if they are being treated for comorbid type 2 diabetes and heart failure, emphasized Mikhail N. Kosiborod, MD, cardiologist, vice president of Research at Saint Luke's Health System.

When the sympathetic nervous system is unregulated, it can lead to high blood pressure and elevated heart rate.

Research from ESC Heart Failure shows a slower standardized gait speed in older adults with heart failure.

A meta-analysis from ESC Heart Failure shows the effects of home telemonitoring in patients with decompensated heart failure.