Top 5 Most-Read Heart Failure Content of 2022

In heart failure (HF) this year, value-based care, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and disease prevention were among the most popular topics discussed. You can read about them, and more, in our top 5 most-read HF content of the year for 2022, which also includes a video interview from one of our Strategic Alliance Partners.

Here are the top 5 most-read HF pieces of 2022.

5. Gluckman Calls for Better Data, Payer Policies to Drive Value-Based CV Care

Part of our coverage of the 2022 Congress of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC), the influences of patients, providers, the pharmaceutical industry, and payers on health care costs were addressed by Providence St. Joseph Health’s Ty J. Gluckman, MD, FACC, FAHA, medical director of the Center for Cardiovascular Analytics, Research, and Data Science. In his address, Gluckamn stressed the importance of—among other hot topics—value discussions, the difficulties cardiologists face prescribing medications while remaining cognizant of patient ability to afford them, and costs that are still forthcoming, after effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the entire article.

4. New HF Guidelines Put Focus on Prevention, Bozkurt Says

Also at this year’s ASPC meeting, Biykem Bozkurt, MD, professor of medicine and cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, led an insightful discussion on how new HF guidelines from the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Failure Society of America place prevention at their core. This is accomplished by redefining HF into 4 stages: stage A, patients at risk for HF; stage B, patients have indicators of heart muscle injury; stage C, symptomatic HF; and stage D, advanced HF. The article also addresses stage-specific treatment and the importance of treating earlier-stage disease.

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3. Dr Amresh Raina Discusses How Heart Failure and Pulmonary Hypertension Intersect

In this segment from our interview with Amresh Raina, MD, director of the advanced HF and pulmonary hypertension (PH) program at Allegheny General Hospital and the Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Raina delves into the overlapping pathophysiologies of HF and elevated pulmonary pressure. He also discusses various causes of PH, emphasizes the differences between specific disease phenotypes, and differentiate how PH can affect both the left and right sides of the heart.

Watch the video.

2. Methamphetamine Misuse Increases Risk of Adverse Heart Health Outcomes

A study published in August in the Journal of the American Heart Association drew potential associations between methamphetamine misuse and extensive cardiovascular damage among patients hospitalized in California and reporting use of the illegal substance. Higher risks were seen for both HF and PH, and male patients were shown to have a 73% higher risk of myocardial infarction compared with female patients. Among users of methamphetamine, the presence of comorbid chronic kidney disease and obesity were shown to contribute to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Top factors associated with misuse were younger age, coexisting cocaine and alcohol use, and chronic depression and anxiety.

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1. TAVR May Induce Early LVEF Improvement in Heart Failure

Patients who have LVEF below 50% may benefit from transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) by way of early LVEF improvement, noted this study in JAMA Cardiology. With a primary end point of 5-year all-cause death and secondary end points that included New York Heart Association functional class and noncardiac death, a third of patients (32.8%) had a 16.4% improvement in their LVEF in the 30 days after transfemoral TAVR, the investigators’ indicator of early improvement. Potential conditions associated with reduced improvement were noted to be cancer, larger aortic valve area, and diabetes.

Read the entire article.