Tag Archives: heart failure

Introduction Cardiorenal syndromes (CRS) are defined as a spectrum of disorders affecting the heart and kidney, in which acute or chronic dysfunction of one organ leads to acute or chronic dysfunction of the other.1,2 Management of this condition can be challenging as it portends significant morbidity due to symptom burden, as well as recurrent hospitalisations and increased mortality.1-3 In addition, as there is a relative paucity of evidence-based therapy, management strategies for CRS have been largely empirical and goal-directed towards improvement of function of one organ, frequently at the cost of the other. For instance, acute kidney i

A 72-year-old woman was referred to our cardiology service with increasing dyspnoea on exertion. Her background history was notable for haemochromatosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease (stage 3a), treated pulmonary tuberculosis and known pericardial calcification. Echocardiography (figure 1A) demonstrated a calcified structure evident on the apical four-chamber view, which appeared to indent the right ventricle. Computed tomography (CT) of the thorax (figure 1B) demonstrated extensive and circumferential pericardial calcification with a maximal thickness of up to 20 mm in the right atrial pericardial region, 12 mm in the inf

The British Society for Heart Failure (BSH) has therefore produced a position statement designed to help easily identify and prioritise patients that should be considered for review. It will also support local teams to identify a lead clinician that they can contact for advice. BSH recommends that the following patients are considered for review: New referrals of symptomatic patients with NTproBNP >2,000pg/ml from primary care or recent A&E attendance Known HF patient with symptoms of decompensation Recently discharged patients following admission with acute heart failure Patients with advanced care plans and receiving palliative car

Dr Sze, BJCA essay prize winner Introduction According to the European Society of Cardiology Atlas project, >83 million people suffered from cardiovascular diseases in Europe in 2015.1 Heart failure (HF) is a common chronic disease in the ageing population. It is associated with poor prognosis, recurrent admissions and limited quality of life.2 Despite development of effective guideline-based treatment, the prognosis of HF patients remains poor. With the advancement of cyber technologies, digital healthcare has become more popular and may develop as a promising way to tackle challenges in HF management. The objectives of this article are:

NICE heart failure guidelines The latest National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for management of chronic heart failure (NG 106)1 were presented by Dr Abdallah Al-Mohammed (Sheffield Teaching Hospitals). It was fascinating to hear Dr Al-Mohammed describe his work on producing the guidelines with respect to what recommendations the authors are permitted to include and how recommendations may be presented. Key changes include the removal of a history of a previous myocardial infarction from the initial assessment of a patient with suspected chronic heart failure. Other changes include the guidelines now using the te

There is no precise definition of what constitutes a HFSN, and the exact number of HFSNs and where they are located is not well understood. Therefore, one of the key recommendations of the inquiry was that Health Education England should work with the Royal College of Nursing and the Nursing and Midwifery Council to ascertain the number and location of HFSNs. Despite this recommendation, no particular body appeared to come forward to undertake this crucial piece of work. At the Pumping Marvellous Foundation’s Heart Failure Summit 2017,3 which was comprised of multi-stakeholders, the commitment was made by the charity, supported by an unres

The PARADIGM-HF (Prospective Comparison of ARNI With ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure) study is the key randomised-controlled trial that underpins the clinical use of sacubitril/valsartan, which demonstrated significantly improved clinical outcomes in patients with HFrEF, in comparison with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition.1 Patients with HFrEF in the routine-care setting represent a clinically heterogeneous population, with a high incidence of comorbidities. Our first article dives deep into the PARADIGM-HF data, and presents the results of key subgroup analyses that support the use o

Introduction The PARADIGM-HF (Prospective Comparison of ARNI With ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure) trial demonstrated that the angiotensin receptor/neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI), sacubitril/valsartan (formerly known as LCZ696), was superior to enalapril in reducing the occurrence of adverse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (≤40%; HFrEF).1,2 The trial was terminated early, on the advice of the independent safety monitoring board, on the basis of clear benefits. These included:1 a 20% relative risk reduction (4.7% absolute risk reduction [ARR

Introduction Heart failure (HF) remains a significant problem globally.1 In the UK, the prevalence is estimated at over 500,000 individuals,2 with care representing 2% of National Health Service (NHS) resources (approximately £2.3 billion).3 A large proportion of the economic burden relates to lengthy and recurrent hospitalisations. Despite advancements, HF is still associated with a poor prognosis. The National Heart Failure Audit from England and Wales demonstrates an in-hospital mortality rate of around 9%, and a one-year mortality of just over 23%.4 Treatment for patients suffering from HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is primar

Introduction Frailty is a distinctive health state, related to the ageing process, in which multiple body systems gradually lose their in-built reserves, and is related to poorer outcomes.1 There have been numerous tools developed to identify frailty,2-4 often these tools are complex and not suitable for identifying patients at the time of admission to hospital, requiring a comprehensive geriatric assessment to validate them. The British Geriatrics Society developed the Frailsafe5,6 checklist, which was piloted across 12 UK hospitals in 2014 as part of the Frailsafe collaborative. The tool used three screening indicators to identify patients