Inotropes may be an appropriate treatment for patients with advanced heart failure (AdHF) who remain highly symptomatic despite optimized standard therapies.
Aims: The LION-HEART study was a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of intermittent doses of levosimendan in outpatients with advanced chronic heart failure.
The clinical course of heart failure is characterised by progressive worsening of cardiac function and symptoms. Patients progress to a condition where traditional treatment is no longer effective and advanced therapies...
Mechanical circulatory support improves survival and quality of life in selected patients with advanced heart failure.
Despite improvements in pharmacological therapy and pacing, prognosis in advanced heart failure (HF) remains poor, with a 1-year mortality of 25-50%.
Mechanical circulatory support with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is an established treatment for patients with advanced heart failure.
The HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) (St. Jude Medical Inc., St Paul, MN) with full magnetic levitation allows for wide and consistent blood flow paths and an artificial pulse designed for enhanced hemocompatibility.
Intermittent levosimendan improved LVEF and decreased hospitalizations in advanced heart failure and represents a therapeutic option for patients whose disease is worsening.
A hallmark characteristic of chronic HF, associated with either a reduced (HFrEF) or preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), is a markedly reduced capacity for physical exertion.
The longer survival of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy due to advances in clinical care has increased the incidence of Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated cardiomyopathy, a nearly consistent feature in the third decade...