Heart Failure Awareness Week 2021

Medication Innovations in Heart Failure

Several medications were shown to have promise in the treatment of heart failure. SGLT2 inhibitors - known for diabetes treatment, these meds now help patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) feel better, live longer, and stay out of the hospital. Intravenous (IV) iron supplementation - When given via IV, iron has been shown to make patients with heart failure feel better and keep them out of the hospital. Vericiguat and omecamtiv mecarbil - On the horizon for new treatments are two new medications for HFrEF. Vericiguat was just approved by the FDA earlier this year. Omecamtiv has not yet been approved. 

Submitted by Stormi Gale, PharmD, BCCP, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy @stormigale

Home-Based Heart Failure Care

In HF care, we’ve been using various forms of telehealth (TH) or televisits for patients for a while now, but given the COVID-19 pandemic, their use has dramatically increased in the response to the need to keep patients with HF safe and cared for. While the pandemic has been awful for so many and in so many ways, the silver lining is that we have needed to use technology and innovation to think differently about how we offer care to patients[1]. By offering visits that keep people safe and away from hospitals and other health care clinics- we are creating a ‘new normal’ in how we can increase access to care during the pandemic and beyond. 

Submitted by Kismet Rasmusson, DNP, FNP, FAHA, FHFSA, CHFN, Nurse Practitioner, Intermountain Healthcare @KismetRasmu

The Value of Palliative Care in Heart Failure

Palliative Care (which may also be known as Supportive Care) is a holistic, patient and family centered approach to care that focuses on symptom and stress relief for patients with chronic diseases like heart failure.   Most importantly, Palliative Care is for all patients including those who are still pursuing treatment for their heart failure including heart transplant or ventricular assist device (VAD) therapies. 

Submitted by Melissa Owen PhD, RN, CNE, FHFSA, Associate Clinical Professor, Assistant Dean for Pre-Licensure Programs, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing @DrMelissaOwen

Decision Aids in Heart Failure: Medications, ICD, and LVAD

Over the course of care, patients with #heartfailure may be faced with many difficult decisions about their treatment – including decisions about commonly recommended surgically implanted devices such as left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).  A number of Decision Aids have been developed to help patients and their loved ones make more informed, education decisions about their healthcare.  

Submitted by: Larry A. Allen, MD, MHS, Professor of Medicine, Kenneth Poirier Chair, Associate Head for Clinical Affairs, Cardiology, Medical Director, Advanced Heart Failure - University of Colorado, School of Medicine; Daniel D. Matlock, MD, MPH, University of Colorado, School of Medicine; Jocelyn S. Thompson, MA, Research Project Manager, University of Colorado School of Medicine; and Bryan C. Wallace, Research Project Manager, University of Colorado School of Medicine 

Emerging Pharmacological Therapies for HFpEF: Drug Classes for Cardiac Amyloidosis Diagnosis and Treatment

Cardiac amyloidosis is a condition where a protein the body produces naturally deposits in tissues throughout the body, including the heart, causing symptoms of shortness of breath and fatigue. In recent years, there have been exciting therapeutic advances to treat two varieties of cardiac amyloidosis. Submitted by Michelle M. Kittleson MD PhD, Director of Education in Heart Failure and Transplantation, Director of Heart Failure Research, Professor of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai @MKittlesonMD