Report of the Task Force on Research in Heart Failure.

In 1992, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a Task Force on Research in Heart Failure composed of national experts in basic, clinical, and population-based research on this condition. The task force's charge was to assess the current state of research on heart failure and recommend future research approaches that are likely to lead to improved management or prevention of heart failure and, thereby, improved health for all Americans by the end of the decade. The task force presents its overall findings in the following summary that they prepared, highlighting especially promising areas for future research. Research accomplishments and specific recommendations in each of four major areas addressed by the task force-basic research, clinical research, population-based studies, and treatment-are described more fully in the main report. It is available on the NHLBI Gopher (accessible through one's Internet Gopher client-Server: gopher.nhlbi.nih.giv, Port:70). A printed copy can be obtained from Charlene French, NHLBI, Building 31, Room 5A03, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892 (telephone: [30114966331). The Institute is very pleased to have this report to guide its heart failure research activities in the coming years. We are grateful to the task force chair, Dr Eugene Braunwald; the cochairs, Drs Arnold M. Katz, Francois M. Abboud, and Jay N. Cohn; and the members for their valuable contribution to this important and timely endeavor.