European journal of heart failure
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Eur. J. Heart Fail. · Jun 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialUptake of self-management strategies in a heart failure management programme.
Multidisciplinary heart failure programs including patient education and self-management strategies such as daily recording of body weight and use of a patient diary decrease hospital readmissions and improve quality of life. However, the degree of uptake of individual components of these programs and their contribution to patient benefit are uncertain. ⋯ At 12 months of follow-up, implementation of self-management strategies including daily weight monitoring and level of education on self-management was significantly higher in the management group than the control group. For the patients in the management group, not using the diary or inability to perform daily weighing were associated with less frequent attendance at the heart failure clinic and education sessions and poorer health outcomes. In this study, attendance at the education sessions was associated with the adoption of self-management, underlining the importance of education in multidisciplinary heart failure programmes. Self-weighing could be increased by provision of scales to all patients. The subset of patients who did not adopt self-management strategies in this study were at high risk of death or readmission.
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Eur. J. Heart Fail. · Jun 2003
ReviewThe non-invasive assessment of hibernating myocardium in ischaemic cardiomyopathy--a myriad of techniques.
Heart failure is placing an ever-increasing burden on society. Many subjects with heart failure and underlying coronary artery disease have a significant amount of akinetic but viable myocardium that is able to contract should myocardial perfusion improve (hibernating myocardium). ⋯ Several non-invasive techniques have been developed to assess the presence or absence of hibernating myocardium. This review will examine the epidemiology and underlying pathogenesis of hibernating myocardium; evaluate the non-invasive techniques for diagnosing hibernating myocardium, and look at therapeutic intervention in subjects with hibernating myocardium.