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Query: UMLS:C0018801 (heart failure)
 72,216 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) using left- (LV) or biventricular pacing is widely applied in selected heart failure patients. However, transvenous LV-lead placement into coronary sinus (CS) branches can be challenging. A 77-year-old female patient with New York Heart Association class III symptoms due to dilated cardiomyopathy [LV ejection fraction (LVEF): 10%, QRS-duration: 150 ms], despite optimal medical treatment presented for CRT. Coronary sinus angiograms were performed after transvenous CS cannulation. Within a large posterolateral vein, low phrenic nerve stimulation thresholds were found. The only alternative smaller tortuous lateral branch showed a significant narrowing, making LV-lead advancement impossible. Angioplasty was performed, using a venoplasty balloon. This caused complete branch occlusion. After recanalization of the vessel by implantation of a bare metal stent, the lead could be advanced through the stent. Optimal pacing parameters without phrenic nerve stimulation were established. Angioplasty of CS branches during CRT implantation procedures bears the risk of complete branch occlusion, but recanalization can acutely be achieved by stent implantation. This is the first report on rescue-stenting of a CS branch after angioplasty-related occlusion. Transthoracic lead implantation, accompanied risks, and slower recovery could thus be avoided.
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PMID:Rescue-stenting of an occluded lateral coronary sinus branch for recanalization after dissection during cardiac resynchronization device implantation. 1902 34

The prevalence of heart failure has increased by 500% over the past 30 years, creating a significant burden on the health care system. Traditional means of detecting worsening heart failure, such as subjective assessment, symptoms, and physical examination, lack sensitivity and specificity. Many nurses who manage heart failure patients have become interested in the role implantable cardiac devices play in monitoring patients' clinical status. In addition to providing therapies, some devices track and report diagnostic information that allows clinicians to more closely and effectively monitor patients, with the possibility of helping to prevent hospitalizations and improve patient outcomes. Optimal use of device diagnostics requires clinics to establish systems for recognizing patients who are eligible for device monitoring. This paper highlights various methods clinics have used to identify patients with implantable cardiac devices so that their device data can be used in conjunction with clinical evaluations to help guide patient care.
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PMID:Device diagnostics for heart failure: identifying eligible patients. 1884 30

Optimal care of patients with heart failure requires a multifaceted approach that includes guideline-driven, evidence-based therapies, intensive patient education, careful initial and follow-up assessment, and appropriately constructed nutrition prescriptions. Central to the construct of the nutrition prescription is advice regarding sodium consumption. It is intuitively and generally agreed upon that sodium restriction is appropriate for patients with heart failure, despite the lack of evidence-based research studies. Whereas limiting sodium is most appropriate for the hypertensive patient at risk for developing heart failure and the patient who is overtly volume overloaded, less certainty exists regarding the sodium prescription for patients with diagnosed heart failure that is well compensated. Sodium intake is only 1 component of medical nutrition therapy, and prescription must be individualized according to nutrition assessment and priority of needs. However, in the absence of new compelling data, sodium restriction remains the most appropriate dietary intervention in general for patients with heart failure.
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PMID:The heart failure and sodium restriction controversy: challenging conventional practice. 1884 52

Optimal therapy for diastolic heart failure (DHF), the most common form of heart failure in older persons, is unclear. To determine the effect of aldosterone antagonism in DHF, the authors conducted an open-label preliminary trial of spironolactone 25 mg/d in 11 women with DHF. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing, Doppler echocardiography, and a quality-of-life survey were administered at baseline and after 4 months. Peak exercise VO(2) increased by 8.3% (P=.001), the ratio of Doppler diastolic early filling velocity to mitral annulus velocity decreased by 25% (P=.02), quality-of-life score improved by 21% (P=.16 for trend), and median New York Heart Association class improved from class III to class II (P=.004). Findings from this preliminary study confirm the role of aldosterone in the pathophysiology of DHF and suggest that aldosterone antagonism may benefit such patients. These hypotheses are currently being tested in two separated National Institutes of Health-funded, randomized trials, the Spironolactone for Failure in the Elderly (SPIFFIE) and the Treatment of Preserved Cardiac Function Heart Failure With an Aldosterone Antagonist (TOPCAT) trials.
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PMID:Effect of aldosterone antagonism on exercise tolerance, Doppler diastolic function, and quality of life in older women with diastolic heart failure. 1937 52

Hypertension and heart failure contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality in the United States. Suboptimal control of these disease processes is multifactorial and involves poorly understood mechanisms affected by the environment (socioeconomic factors) and genetics (cell biology). Dietary sodium is an illustrative case. Although physicians intuitively accept that sodium affects renal and cardiovascular physiology, the complex overlay of genetics, environment, and culture is not practically addressed to make a meaningful difference in patient care. Optimal control of hypertension and heart failure will require a personalized care plan for each patient that includes lifestyle changes and carefully selected pharmacotherapy and also accounts for sociogenetic factors that affect each patient's life and thus his or her disease process. Physicians' cultural biases and perceptions also must be factored into this complex patient care equation.
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PMID:Sociology meets genetics: sociogenetic implications for future management of hypertension and heart failure. 1962 63

In treating moderate to severe anemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD), oral iron is effective only in a minority of nondialysis patients. Intravenous iron is more effective and can raise levels of hemoglobin even without the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs). Unfortunately, the current assays of iron status that are presently widely available are not especially helpful in predicting response. In patients on dialysis, i.v. iron is effective over a wide range of serum ferritin from <100 ng/ml to 800 ng/ml. None of the three available randomized controlled trials comparing oral with i.v. iron showed evidence of nephrotoxicity caused by i.v. iron. Iron deficiency is a risk factor for thrombocytosis and should, wherever possible, be avoided. Optimal coadministration of iron may reduce the risk for ESA-driven cardiovascular events. Increased total body iron stores (imperfectly reflected by serum ferritin levels in CKD) do not appear to be related to such events or hospitalization in CKD; it is unclear what other risk factors and mechanisms need to be considered. In the appreciable proportion of patients with both renal and cardiac dysfunction, management is further complicated by a vicious circle (which can be characterized as cardiorenal anemia syndrome) in which CKD, heart failure, and anemia exacerbate each other. In such patients, correction of anemia appears to improve cardiac function and quality of life without a greater risk for adverse events.
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PMID:Iron metabolism, iron deficiency, thrombocytosis, and the cardiorenal anemia syndrome. 1976 14

Modified methods for the detection and measurement of furosemide and spironolactone in biological fluids has been developed based on gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Optimal conditions for chromatography are described for the determination of the diuretic agents of interest. The proposed methods were verified by analysing urine samples obtained from patients with chronic cardiac insufficiency.
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PMID:[Detection of selected diuretics in biological fluids by chromatography mass spectrometry]. 2005 47

Chronic heart failure (CHF) remains the only cardiovascular disease with an increasing hospitalization burden and an ongoing drain on health care expenditures. The prevalence of CHF increases with advancing life span, with diastolic heart failure predominating in the elderly population. Primary prevention of coronary artery disease and risk factor management via aggressive blood pressure control are central in preventing new occurrences of left ventricular dysfunction. Optimal therapy for CHF involves identification and correction of potentially reversible precipitants, target-dose titration of medical therapy, and management of hospitalizations for decompensation. The etiological phenotype, absolute decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction and a widening of QRS duration on electrocardiography, is commonly used to identify patients at increased risk of progression of heart failure and sudden death who may benefit from prophylactic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator placement with or without cardiac resynchronization therapy. Patients who transition to advanced stages of disease despite optimal traditional medical and device therapy may be candidates for hemodynamically directed approaches such as a left ventricular assist device; in selected cases, listing for cardiac transplant may be warranted.
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PMID:Chronic heart failure: contemporary diagnosis and management. 2059 75

Biomarkers are becoming increasingly available for clinical use, particularly in the care of patients with heart failure. For health care providers, a major difficulty is how to interpret and apply these increasing amounts of diagnostic and prognostic information. Consequently, the scientific challenge is evolving from the discovery of biomarkers to the selection and validation of select panels of clinically useful markers that balance performance and practicality. Optimal combinations of biomarkers will vary based on the intended use (eg, diagnosis vs prognosis). The final goal must be to generate more actionable knowledge that improves patient management and outcomes, rather than merely creating greater complexity. Here we conceptually define multiple biomarker strategies, provide examples of emerging biomarker panels used in the care of patients with heart failure, and address key statistical and clinical issues for this rapidly evolving field.
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PMID:Use of multiple biomarkers in heart failure. 2042 66

Acute cardiovascular dysfunction occurs perioperatively in more than 20% of cardiosurgical patients, yet current acute heart failure (HF) classification is not applicable to this period. Indicators of major perioperative risk include unstable coronary syndromes, decompensated HF, significant arrhythmias and valvular disease. Clinical risk factors include history of heart disease, compensated HF, cerebrovascular disease, presence of diabetes mellitus, renal insufficiency and high-risk surgery. EuroSCORE reliably predicts perioperative cardiovascular alteration in patients aged less than 80 years. Preoperative B-type natriuretic peptide level is an additional risk stratification factor. Aggressively preserving heart function during cardiosurgery is a major goal. Volatile anaesthetics and levosimendan seem to be promising cardioprotective agents, but large trials are still needed to assess the best cardioprotective agent(s) and optimal protocol(s). The aim of monitoring is early detection and assessment of mechanisms of perioperative cardiovascular dysfunction. Ideally, volume status should be assessed by 'dynamic' measurement of haemodynamic parameters. Assess heart function first by echocardiography, then using a pulmonary artery catheter (especially in right heart dysfunction). If volaemia and heart function are in the normal range, cardiovascular dysfunction is very likely related to vascular dysfunction. In treating myocardial dysfunction, consider the following options, either alone or in combination: low-to-moderate doses of dobutamine and epinephrine, milrinone or levosimendan. In vasoplegia-induced hypotension, use norepinephrine to maintain adequate perfusion pressure. Exclude hypovolaemia in patients under vasopressors, through repeated volume assessments. Optimal perioperative use of inotropes/vasopressors in cardiosurgery remains controversial, and further large multinational studies are needed. Cardiosurgical perioperative classification of cardiac impairment should be based on time of occurrence (precardiotomy, failure to wean, postcardiotomy) and haemodynamic severity of the patient's condition (crash and burn, deteriorating fast, stable but inotrope dependent). In heart dysfunction with suspected coronary hypoperfusion, an intra-aortic balloon pump is highly recommended. A ventricular assist device should be considered before end organ dysfunction becomes evident. Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation is an elegant solution as a bridge to recovery and/or decision making. This paper offers practical recommendations for management of perioperative HF in cardiosurgery based on European experts' opinion. It also emphasizes the need for large surveys and studies to assess the optimal way to manage perioperative HF in cardiac surgery.
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PMID:Clinical review: practical recommendations on the management of perioperative heart failure in cardiac surgery. 2049 11


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