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

The Losartan Heart Failure Survival Study (ELITE II) and the Valsartan Heart Failure Trial (Val-HeFT) both evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of a selective angiotensin II receptor antagonist on morbidity and mortality in patients with symptomatic heart failure. The trials differed, however, in terms of their primary hypothesis, study design, and treatment regimens, and this must be taken into consideration when comparing and interpreting the data from these studies. The data are in many ways complementary, and add to our understanding of the optimal treatment of symptomatic heart failure. Additional studies are needed, however, to fully define the role of angiotensin II receptor antagonists in the management of this very heterogeneous group of patients.
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PMID:ELITE II and Val-HeFT are different trials: together what do they tell us? 1180 3

To investigate whether endothelin-A receptors and nitric oxide modulate renal hemodynamics in man under angiotensin II receptor-1 blockade, 6 healthy volunteers, on a 240 mmol Na diet, underwent 4 separate renal hemodynamic measurements, in 3 of which endothelin-A blocker BQ-123 0.2 nmol.kg.min(-1) was infused for 90 minutes after pretreatment with either placebo, telmisartan 1 mg.kg center dot day(-1) for 3 days, or telmisartan as well, but with co-infusion of both BQ-123 and N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methylester 0.5 microg.kg center dot min(-1). A fourth infusion was made with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methylester alone. No change followed infusion of either N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methylester alone or BQ-123 alone. With BQ-123 after telmisartan, renal blood flow rose from 916 +/- 56 mL center dot min(-1) center dot 1.73 m(2) to 1047 +/- 51.2 (P<0.001), and renal vascular resistances fell from 89 +/- 7 mm Hg center dot min center dot L(-1) to 74 +/-4 (P<0.001). These changes were fully abolished by the co-infused N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methylester. Infusion of BQ-123, devoid of renal hemodynamic effects at baseline, produces significant renal vasodilation when angiotensin II receptors are blocked, indicating an increasing renal hemodynamic role of endothelin-A--receptor activity. Because such a vasodilation is prevented by nonvasoconstricting microdoses of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methylester, nitric oxide--endothelin balance controls substantially renal hemodynamics under angiotensin II blockade. These findings are consistent with a rationale of the association of endothelin-A blockers with angiotensin II blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in treating nitric oxide--deficient conditions such as arterial hypertension, heart failure, and chronic renal diseases.
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PMID:Renal hemodynamic control by endothelin and nitric oxide under angiotensin II blockade in man. 1188 37

This year the prevalence, prognosis and the cost of left ventricular function have been clarified. The significance of B natiuretic peptide has been confirmed. The influence of race on the sensitivity to different therapeutic measures has been brought up. Tobacco and diabetes appear as risk factors in cardiac insufficiency. The importance of parietal thickening regarding hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is beginning to be debated, and the risk associated with a new pregnancy in women affected by dilated cardiomyopathy of the peripartum period has been demonstrated. The significance of betablockers is confirmed, although that of angiotensin II receptor antagonists remains a source of questions, despite several advances. Endothelin receptor antagonists present divergent results. Ventricular resynchronisation advances, but its beneficial role regarding the reduction of morbidity and mortality remains to be proved.
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PMID:[The best of 2001. Heart failure]. 1190 93

In the field of cardiovascular pharmacology the year 2001 has been marked by the demonstration of the clinical significance of new anti-thrombotics and by the interesting results with anti-endothelins. Whereas the failure of oral antiGPIIb-IIIa has been confirmed, melagatran (an anti-thrombin administered orally) and pentasaccharide (a new subcutaneous anti-Xa) have proved their efficacy in the prevention of venous thromboembolic disease compared to low molecular weight heparins, with an acceptable incidence of unwanted effects. Anti-endothelins under development have variable mechanisms of action from one drug to another. Their efficacy in cardiac insufficiency, pulmonary artery hypertension and arterial hypertension is suggested by clinical studies investigating small population; a more important study in decompensated cardiac insufficiency has not however shown a reduction of the morbidity and mortality with one of these drugs. The clinical significance of angiotensin II receptor antagonists has been confirmed for the indications which they share with ACE inhibitors (cardiac insufficiency, prevention of diabetic nephropathy). However, there are not enough comparative trials for these indications between these two classes in order to draw conclusions about the equivalence or superiority of one or the other. Of help elsewhere has been a re-interpretation of the mode of action of arterial wall drugs, and the inflammatory theory of atherosclerosis, putting the accent for example on the reduction of C reactive protein with a statin, or on the anti-inflammatory effect of aspirin. However, one study has not shown any benefit in giving a short course of corticosteroids in unstable angina. A very prominent event in the year 2001 remains the withdrawal of cerivstatin due to fatal rhabdomyolysis. The consequences go far beyond this drug, as its withdrawal justifies a fresh examination of the risk-benefit ratio for all the statins, with the probable corollary of a halt in the escalation of prescriptions. In this context, the new ezetimibe-type cholesterol absorption inhibitors could be a future solution.
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PMID:[The best of 2001. Clinical pharmacology]. 1190 97

The pharmacotherapy of heart failure has become complex. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (or angiotensin II receptor blockers), beta-blockers, spironolactone, diuretics and digoxin can be prescribed concurrently. Endothelin antagonists and combined inhibitors of converting enzyme and neutral endopeptidase are under investigation. Optimal dosing will become increasingly difficult to judge. Plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) indicates the severity of left ventricular dysfunction. The C-terminal bioactive peptide and N-terminal BNP (N-BNP) circulate at concentrations related to cardiac status. We proposed that plasma levels of N-BNP would provide an index to guide drug treatment in established heart failure. Sixty-nine patients were randomized to treatment adjusted according to clinical criteria or plasma N-BNP. Hormone-guided therapy resulted in fewer clinical end points than did clinical management. This encourages further exploration of hormone guidance of anti-heart failure therapy, which could be extended to patients with preserved ejection fraction, in addition to those with established systolic dysfunction.
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PMID:BNP in hormone-guided treatment of heart failure. 1194 58

As with many large-scale long-term outcome trials, more questions have been posed than answered regarding the potential role of angiotensin II receptor blockers as first-line agents in chronic heart failure. Given the present data, in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, ACE inhibitors must remain the treatment of choice, owing to the large body of data supporting their use in this clinical syndrome. However, ARBs seems a reasonable alternative for renin-angiotensin axis blockade in the significant number of heart failure patients who are genuinely intolerant of ACE inhibitors. The pendulum has now swung back in favour of ACE inhibition for chronic heart failure, although one can only await with great expectation the results of the ongoing trials comparing not only angiotensin II receptor blockers with ACE inhibitors but a combination of the two with regards tolerability and survival. Whether this potentially useful class of drugs will ultimately become the cornerstone of heart failure therapy in place of, or in addition to, ACE inhibitors is still in debate, but hopefully we should not have to wait too long for the definitive answers.
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PMID:Angiotensin II receptor blockers in chronic heart failure--not as ELITE as expected! 1196 90

Survival of patients with heart failure has improved over the past decade due to advances in medical therapy. However, sudden cardiac death continues to cause 35 to 65% of death. Ventricular arrhythmias are important causes of sudden cardiac death in patients with heart failure. The risks of antiarrhythmic drugs are increased in patients with heart failure. Therefore, in the absence of a clear indication, antiarrhythmic drug therapy should be avoided. A number of recent randomized trials have provided evidence that beta-adrenergic blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers(ARB) significantly reduces the risk of sudden death in patients with chronic congestive heart failure. For patients who have a history of sustained ventricular tachycardia(VT) or ventricular fibrillation(VF) amiodarone or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator(ICD) should be considered, and these therapy may benefit some high risk patients who have nonsustained VT.
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PMID:[Heart failure]. 1213 24

The elderly patient may show normal physiological changes of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems that accompany aging, as well as features of intrinsic cardiac disease. The latter include: a past history of myocardial infarction or ischaemic heart disease; history of congestive cardiac failure; angina; arterial hypertension (BP >140/90mm Hg); and conduction disorders. A key aspect to the safe and effective anaesthetic management of the elderly patient with cardiac disease is a careful preoperative assessment and optimisation of pre-existing drug therapies. All cardiac medications should be continued up to and including the morning of surgery with the exception of anticoagulation involving warfarin, and perhaps large doses of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor antagonists in patients with hypertension or heart failure. Anaesthetic techniques used in these patients should avoid episodes of excessive hypotension after induction of anaesthesia or large blood loss, or the combination of hypertension and tachycardia after noxious stimulation. The latter physiological disturbances are pivotal for the development of myocardial ischaemia. Both premedication (if used) and anaesthesia should avoid excessive sedation and respiratory depression. The choice of anaesthetic technique may vary between: a balanced technique involving an opiate and a volatile agent; an intravenous technique utilising infusions of propofol; or regional anaesthesia with or without additional sedation. There are no good data to suggest any one technique is better than the rest. The occurrence of ischaemia in the perioperative period may precede the postoperative development of significant cardiac morbidity and mortality (including myocardial infarction or unstable angina, congestive cardiac failure, cerebrovascular accidents, and severe arrhythmias). A number of strategies have been examined to reduce these adverse outcomes. The effect of acute beta-adrenoceptor blockade in treatment-naive patients is associated with reduction in the haemodynamic response to noxious stimuli and decreased ECG evidence of myocardial ischaemia, as well as a reduction in the number of cardiac adverse events. Other drugs (calcium channel antagonists, alpha(2)-agonists and adenosine modulators) have a less predictable influence on both myocardial ischaemia and hard cardiac outcomes. There is inadequate evidence at present to define the optimal time course for acute beta-blockade, or the groups of patients in whom preoperative beta-blockade should be initiated in the absence of contraindications. Nevertheless, addition of beta-blockers to the preoperative regimen should be considered in patients with evidence of or at risk for coronary disease undergoing major surgery. There is also evidence that long-term beta-adrenoceptor or calcium channel blockade or nitrate therapy for the high-risk cardiac patient offers little protection against silent myocardial ischaemia, nonfatal infarction, cardiac failure and cardiac death.
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PMID:Issues in the perioperative management of the elderly patient with cardiovascular disease. 1214 50

During the last years, the results of several trials on heart failure treatment were published or presented at international meetings. The new perspectives concern drug therapy and non-pharmacological strategies, such as cardioverter-defibrillators, biventricular resynchronization and implantable assist devices. Trials on beta-blockers extended the indication to patients with advanced heart failure, but the choice of the "best" beta-blocker to use remains an unsolved issue. Moreover, the concomitant use of ACE-inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor antagonists is a recent acquisition. However, the Val-HeFT results underscored that the add-on hypothesis of a more complete inhibition obtained with the combination of multiple agents was not confirmed in patients already taking ACE-inhibitors and beta-blockers. Regarding the new neurohormonal modulators (omapatrilat, etanercept, endothelin receptor blockers, arginine-vasopressin antagonists), more data are needed before using them in clinical practice. After the publication of the MADIT-II results, the cardioverter-defibrillator implantation will probably spread in patients with previous myocardial infarction and left ventricular dysfunction to prevent sudden death, but the cost-effectiveness ratio is still to be clarified. In the advanced or end-stage heart failure, when the improvement of quality of life represents the main target of therapy, ventricular resynchronization and implantable assist devices may play a role in clinical settings. Before considering them like a real therapeutic option, final results from ongoing investigations should be awaited.
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PMID:[Treatment of heart failure: an update]. 1218 29

Heart failure (HF) is a highly prevalent and frequently fatal condition. During 1998, 10,815 Medicare beneficiaries in Kentucky were diagnosed as having HF; 14,777 beneficiaries were hospitalized for the condition, and 696 Medicare beneficiaries died with HF as the primary diagnosis. Proper diagnosis and subsequent treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors improve functional status, quality of life, and survival among HF patients. Health Care Excel, Incorporated (HCE), the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for Kentucky, collaborated with a select group of Kentucky hospitals to conduct an HF quality improvement project. The improved pharmacotherapy by these hospitals is presented and discussed. The use of ACE inhibitors improved from 54.1% to 66.0% and the use of either ACE inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) to 72.1%.
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PMID:The use of ACE inhibitors in the treatment of heart failure in Kentucky Medicare beneficiaries: a quality improvement project. 1222 4


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