European journal of heart failure
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Eur. J. Heart Fail. · Feb 2019
Predicting one-year mortality in heart failure using the 'Surprise Question': a prospective pilot study.
The Surprise Question: 'would you be surprised if this patient were to die within the next year?' has been shown to predict mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease and cancer. This prospective study aimed to determine whether the Surprise Question could identify heart failure patients with a prognosis of less than 1 year, and whether the Surprise Question can be used by different healthcare professionals. ⋯ This study demonstrates that the Surprise Question can identify heart failure patients within the last year of life. Despite over-classification of patients into the 'not surprised' category, the Surprise Question identified nearly all patients who were within the last year of life, whilst also accurately identifying those unlikely to die.
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Eur. J. Heart Fail. · Feb 2019
ReviewAdrenomedullin in heart failure: pathophysiology and therapeutic application.
Adrenomedullin (ADM) is a peptide hormone first discovered in 1993 in pheochromocytoma. It is synthesized by endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells and diffuses freely between blood and interstitium. Excretion of ADM is stimulated by volume overload to maintain endothelial barrier function. ⋯ The observation that adrecizumab increases plasma concentrations of ADM indicates that ADM-binding by adrecizumab is able to drain ADM from the interstitium into the circulation. We therefore hypothesize that administration of adrecizumab improves vascular integrity, leading to improvement of tissue congestion and thereby may improve clinical outcomes in patients with acute decompensated heart failure. A phase II study with adrecizumab in patients with sepsis is ongoing and a phase II study on the effects of adrecizumab in patients with acute decompensated heart failure with elevated ADM is currently in preparation.
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Eur. J. Heart Fail. · Feb 2019
Predictors of rehospitalization after percutaneous edge-to-edge mitral valve repair by MitraClip implantation.
In patients at increased surgical risk, transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair by MitraClip implantation for severe mitral regurgitation (MR) has proven to relieve symptoms of MR, reduce New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and improve quality of life. Rehospitalization for decompensated heart failure occurs frequently after MitraClip implantation, negatively impacting quality of life. We aimed here to determine predictors of 1-year rehospitalization for decompensated heart failure. ⋯ After MitraClip implantation, annual rate of rehospitalization for decompensated heart failure was reduced by 65.8%. Baseline left ventricular ejection fraction, baseline troponin T and pre-procedural NYHA functional class are independent predictors for rehospitalization within the first year after MitraClip implantation. Patients readmitted for decompensated heart failure after MitraClip implantation had a 2.3-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality and a 3.3-fold increased risk of cardiovascular mortality compared to patients not requiring rehospitalization.