Understanding chronic heart failure

Chronic heart failure guidelines.

I read the editorial of M. R. Cowie with great interest. The figures on the prognosis of heart failure were admirably clear. Nobody can deny the grim prognosis of heart failure patients, as reported by Mosterd and colleagues in the article to which the editorial refers. Cowie identifies patients who are likely to do especially badly: the very old, those with impaired renal function, diabetes an...

Severe Chronic Heart Failure

Many of the newer antiarrhythmic agents are said to cause minimal myocardial depression, but their hemodynamic effects have not been invasively evaluated and compared in patients with severe chronic heart failure. In a randomized, crossover study, the hemodynamic responses to single oral doses of procainamide (750 mg), tocainide (600 mg), and encainide (50 mg) given to 21 patients with severe c...

chronic pain in chronic heart failure: a review article

heart failure (hf) is one of the main causes of death and disability in the world. the prevalence of hf in developed countries is between 1% and 2% of the adult population and approximately between 6% and 10% in the elderly, giving rise to high costs of care and treatment. indeed, in the united states, the direct and indirect costs exceeded 23 billion dollars in 2002.  hf is typically character...

Chronic Heart Failure in Congenital Heart Disease

770 Part I: General Considerations Introduction The past 60 years have brought remarkable advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease (CHD). Early diagnosis and improvements in cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology have resulted in unprecedented survival of patients with CHD, even those with the most complex lesions. Despite remarkable success in treatments, ...

Advanced Chronic Heart Failure and Heart Transplantation