Circulation. Heart failure
-
Congestion is the most frequent cause for hospitalization in acute decompensated heart failure. Although decongestion is a major goal of acute therapy, it is unclear how the clinical components of congestion (eg, peripheral edema, orthopnea) contribute to outcomes after discharge or how well decongestion is maintained. ⋯ URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifiers: NCT00608491, NCT00577135.
-
Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Risk of Heart Failure and Death After Prolonged Smoking Cessation: Role of Amount and Duration of Prior Smoking.
According to the 2004 Surgeon General's Report on Health Consequences of Smoking, after >15 years of abstinence, the cardiovascular risk of former smokers becomes similar to that of never-smokers. Whether this health benefit of smoking cessation varies by amount and duration of prior smoking remains unclear. ⋯ After >15 years of smoking cessation, the risk of HF and death for most former smokers becomes similar to that of never-smokers. Although this benefit of smoking cessation is not extended to those with ≥32 pack-years of prior smoking, they have lower risk of death relative to current smokers.
-
Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause for hospital readmission. Hospice care may help palliate HF symptoms but its association with 30-day all-cause readmission remains unknown. ⋯ A discharge hospice referral was associated with lower 30-day all-cause readmission among hospitalized patients with HF. However, most patients with HF who died within 6 months of hospital discharge did not receive a discharge hospice referral.
-
Elevated left ventricular filling pressure is a cardinal feature of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Mitral E/e' ratio has been proposed as a noninvasive measure of left ventricular filling pressure. We studied the accuracy of E/e' to estimate and track changes of left ventricular filling pressure in patients with unexplained dyspnea. ⋯ In patients with unexplained dyspnea, E/e' ratio neither accurately estimates PAWP nor identifies patients with elevated PAWP consistent with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Positional changes in E/e' ratio do not reflect changes in PAWP.