Heart Failure

Echocardiography at initial screening is one tool that may help identify childhood cancer survivors most at risk for future HF with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, researchers reported.

The CDC estimates that 6 million Americans are diagnosed each year with HF, and that it is responsible for more than 300,000 U.S. deaths per year and costs the U.S. health system more than $30 billion annually.

Dapagliflozin is equally as effective in women as in men in reducing risk for worsening HF, CV death and all-cause death compared with placebo, according to new data from the DAPA-HF trial.

Preterm birth is associated with an increased risk for heart failure into adulthood, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Among patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction, elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide level was associated with greater risk for HF hospitalization and CV mortality, regardless of BMI, researchers reported.

Hypertension, diabetes, a history of smoking and prior MI were significant risk factors for HF in people younger than 55 years compared with an older population, according to a study published in The BMJ.

Among patients discharged after hospitalization for atrial fibrillation, those subsequently hospitalized with HF had increased risk for all-cause death, according to a study published in Heart.

Compared with NYHA class, patient-reported outcome measures were more likely to detect clinically meaningful changes in patients with chronic HF, researchers reported.

In acute decompensated HF, moderate or severe mitral regurgitation occurred in nearly half of patients with ejection fraction below 50%, and its overall prevalence in this population varied by race/ethnicity and sex, researchers reported.

Individuals with poorer sleep efficiency and longer time spent awake from sleep onset to final awakening had increased risk for incident CVD, according to results published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.