Heart Failure

Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump as much blood as the body requires. This ineffective pumping can lead to enlargement of the heart as the myocardium works harder pump the same amount of blood. Heart failure may be caused by defects in the myocardium, such as an a heart attack infarct, or due to structural issues such as severe heart valve regurgitation. Heart failure can be divided into HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The disease is further divided into four New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes. Stage IV heart failure is when the heart is completely failing and requires a heart transplant or hemodynamic support from a left ventricular assist device (LVAD).

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Psychosocial evaluation predicts readmission risk for LVAD patients

A tool designed to assess the psychosocial status of heart transplant candidates may also be able to predict which left ventricular assist device (LVAD) recipients are at the highest risk of being readmitted to the hospital, Cleveland Clinic researchers reported Jan. 9 in Circulation: Heart Failure.

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Women with HFrEF live longer but suffer more

Women with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) live longer than their male counterparts, but those additional years are plagued by a lower quality of life—including greater levels of self-reported anxiety, depression and physical disability—according to an analysis in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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AI-based EKG processing predicts early left ventricular dysfunction

AI applied to an electrocardiogram (EKG) test reliably detected asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction (ALVD)—a precursor to heart failure—and predicted which patients were most at risk of developing the condition in the future, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in Nature Medicine.

Cotton vest aims to predict, prevent MI in CHF patients

A French health tech company debuted its Chronolife vest—a cotton- and lycra-based wearable aimed at preventing medical emergencies in patients with chronic or congestive heart failure (CHF)—at CES 2019 in Las Vegas on Jan. 6, CNET reported.

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Back-to-back triple transplant recipients spark friendship at Chicago hospital

University of Chicago Medicine physicians performed the 16th and 17th triple transplant surgeries in the United States within 30 hours of each other in late December, giving two different patients a healthy heart, kidney and liver all at once.

After COAPT: Getting MitraClip Right in the Real World

Will operators be able to replicate COAPT’s restraint and its outcomes?

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AFib ablation boosts clinical outcomes for heart failure patients

Compared to drug therapy alone, catheter ablation nearly halved the risk of death and improved a range of clinical outcomes for patients with both heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AFib) in a meta-analysis.

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Metformin shows promise as treatment for HFpEF

Popular anti-diabetes drug metformin could have positive implications for heart failure patients, too, according to a recent study that found the medication reduced left ventricular stiffness in mice with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).