Heart Failure

To reduce poor outcomes from heart failure care disparities, Danish researchers probed the link between individual socioeconomic factors and care quality for patients with reduced ejection fraction.

Being male and Black, having comorbidities, and admission to a nonteaching hospital were linked to greater chances of subsequent readmission for heart failure in a recent Journal of Clinical Hypertension study.

Prevention and early screening efforts need to be stepped up for patients with acute heart failure who contract pneumonia while hospitalized.

Evidence may support a greater comorbidity burden among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) or reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), although this finding was shown to be worse among women with HFpEF.

Results from a racially diverse clinical trial show that despite bringing palliative care to rural and minority populations with heart failure facing hurdles to accessing such care, using telehealth delivery methods to improve access does not improve the mood or quality of life of patients or their caregivers.

Researchers interviewed US specialists in an effort to see how conscious and unconscious thoughts about race and gender contributed to an unequal allocation of various treatments for heart failure.

The company said FDA has set a date of January 20, 2021, for action under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act.

The designation would be to reduce the risk of heart failure or cardiovascular death in patients who have suffered an acute MI, which is a known cause of heart failure.

Stress cardiomyopathy has presented in more patients with acute coronary syndrome during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, despite none having positive antibody results for the virus, compared with several measured periods before the pandemic.

There was a greater incidence of heart disease, both cardiovascular and ischemic, among women and men who survived childhood maltreatment, according to study results published Monday from the United Kingdom.

Palliative medicine consultations for heart failure were linked with increased rates of advance directives being included in a patient’s electronic medical record, according to study results published this month in Journal of Maine Medical Center.

Women with heart disease during their first pregnancy had a higher rate of maternal cardiac events and neonatal complications, especially if they also had pulmonary hypertension, according to study findings published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. The study also identified factors that can predict which pregnant women with heart disease will develop heart failure.

At the 5-year mark, half of patients hospitalized for heart failure typically have died. These study authors set out to determine if a wearable sensor can better predict who is at risk for heart failure so that the risk can be modified.

Plant-based diets have been shown to improve both ejection fraction and cardiac remodeling in patients with heart failure among a recent review of interventional studies, thereby lessening the adverse effects of obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes.

A worse prognosis in patients with heart failure has possibly been linked to having at least 1 anemic episode, or a drop in hemoglobin levels, as was a greater risk of hospitalization and mortality.

Compared with amoxicillin, azithromycin was shown in a recent study to increase both the relative and absolute risks of cardiovascular death among patients being treated on an outpatient basis.

The decade spanning 2007 through 2017 saw an intensified focus on reducing hospital readmissions among patients with heart failure receiving care in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

The light-hearted debate, “Primary Cardiovascular Prevention with SGLT2 Inhibitors or GLP-1 Receptor Agonists: Are We Ready for Prime Time?” took place Monday during the 80th American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions.

Study results out of Denmark show that 0.08% of patients with heart failure received a diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the time after a country-wide lockdown began on March 12.

Yale's Silvio Inzucchi, MD, who has been involved in groundbreaking trials with SGLT2 inhibitors for the past decade, shared data that show patients who did not have type 2 diabetes (T2D) when they started the DAPA-HF trial were 32% less likely to develop the disease if they took dapagliflozin (Farxiga) instead of placebo.

Self-reported high levels of physical activity shared a positive correlation with improved mortality and care for patients who underwent chest CT scans for atherosclerosis.

Close to 6 million Americans live with heart failure, and each of their hospitalizations for the condition carries an average cost of $11,500, or $11 billion in total costs each year.

There could be a 46% spike in the incidence of heart failure in the United States by 2030, bringing the total to more than 8 million adults living with the condition and an approximate $69.6 billion hit to the economy.

Despite a decline in deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) in the United States over the past 40 years, CHD is still the top cause of mortality in the United States—especially in low-income counties.

Heart failure is a complicated disease to manage, requiring coordination of these outcomes-related measurements: weight, blood pressure, glycemic index, and medication and diet adherence. Close to half of all patients do not reach the 5-year survival mark after the condition is diagnosed.

To aid in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD), women are more likely to use preventive measures while men are typically treated with surgical interventions. Women are also less likely to die from CVD than men, according to recent study results published in The Lancet.

Being uninsured carries with it a host of adverse health consequences, including more advanced stages of disease when seeing a physician, avoidable deaths, and not receiving lifesaving treatments for conditions such as heart failure.

By 2030, the World Health Organization estimates that 82 million individuals worldwide will be affected by dementia, up from 50 million in 2017 and a 64% increase in prevalence in just 13 years. It is well established that cardiovascular health and cognitive decline are interrelated.

The worldwide fatality rate from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) now exceeds 7%, and more than 3 million cases have been reported. Cardiovascular disease is a well-known factor for increasing the risk of contracting this sometimes deadly virus.

Patients hospitalized due to acute decompensated heart failure have both a higher rate of annual mortality, compared with patients who have chronic ambulatory heart failure, and of dying within 6 months of hospital release.