While heart failure (HF) affects all segments of the population, older patients, women, and racial and ethnic minority groups have been markedly underrepresented in most major HF trials. This chapter provides a brief summary of the epidemiology, clinical features, and…
Over the past two decades, it has become increasingly apparent that approximately 50% of patients with heart failure (HF) have a normal or almost normal ejection fraction (see also Chapter 11 ), referred to variably as diastolic HF or HF…
Arrhythmias are common in heart failure patients. This chapter will discuss the diagnosis and therapy of arrhythmias in patients with heart failure. Atrial Fibrillation Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. Its prevalence increases with age and…
Heart failure (HF) is a complex clinical syndrome that represents a final common pathway for many types of cardiovascular disease. Multiple overlapping frameworks for classifying HF exist ( see also Chapters 18, Chapter 31 ). HF can be viewed as…
Nearly one third of acute heart failure (AHF) patients die or are rehospitalized within 90 days after discharge in the United States, with similar numbers in Europe. Despite a decade of intensive research efforts, substantially improving outcomes remains an elusive…
Prevention of heart failure is an urgent public health need with national and global implications. Despite recent advances in the therapy of cardiovascular disorders, heart failure remains a challenging disease with a high prevalence ( Fig. 35.1 ) and a…
The first right heart catheterization (RHC) in humans was performed in 1929 by Dr. Werner Forssmann (on himself), who ultimately shared in the 1956 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Andre Cournard and Dickinson Richards for their work in cardiac catheterization.…
Acknowledgments Dr. Ibrahim is supported in part by the Dennis and Marilyn Barry Fellowship in Cardiology Research. Dr. Gaggin is supported in part by the Ruth and James Clark Fund for Cardiac Research Innovation. Dr. Januzzi is supported in part…
Definition of Heart Failure Heart failure can be defined as a clinical syndrome caused by an abnormality of cardiac structure or function that results in failure to deliver oxygen at a rate commensurate with the needs of the body tissues…
Introduction and Goals of Clinical Evaluation Optimal implementation of heart failure therapy requires expeditious and accurate diagnosis as well as determination of the severity of the disease and, wherever possible, identification of its cause. The earlier in the clinical course…