Cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of mortality in Brazil and worldwide and heart failure (HF) is one of the most prevalent causes of morbidity and mortality. In the last three months, we had a monthly average of 15,406 hospitalizations for HF in Brazil according to data collected in DATASUS. It is a public health concern due to its high morbidity, mortality, and cost associated with frequent hospitalizations. Therefore, it is of fundamental importance that the diagnosis is rapid so […]

The category “heart failure (HF) with mid-range ejection fraction” (HFmrEF), i.e., with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) between 40-49%, was first described in 2016 in the European Society of Cardiology Guidelines on the syndrome. After that, much of the worldwide cardiology community has adopted HF’s classification into three categories of LVEF (reduced, mid-range and preserved), including the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (2018), despite existing uncertainties about the real meaning of the new classification and, more importantly, what the identification of […]

Heart failure (HF) is a chronic and progressive clinical syndrome resulting from structural or functional abnormalities of the heart. The most common symptoms and signs of HF are dyspnea, fatigue, pulmonary and peripheral congestion or edema and jugular vein distension. The prevalence of HF continuously increases due to improved treatment and reduced short-term mortality in patients with acute coronary syndromes, congenital heart disease, population aging and improved survival of patients with already developed heart failure by the widespread application of […]

Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of cardiovascular hospitalization in the world. Mortality rate ranges from 5% to 15%, and up to 50% of patients are readmitted in the emergency department in 90 days after discharge. Different strategies have been implemented in recent years to avoid readmission, and telemedicine is a growing field in this scenario. The use of telecommunication technologies brings potential advantages when compared to in-person care, overcoming organizational and geographic barriers. However, divergent results in randomized […]

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) accounts for approximately 50% of deaths in patients with ischemic and nonischemic heart disease in the presence of severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Many clinical trials– have evaluated the effectiveness of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) in primary prevention of SCD in the last 20 years. The Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial II (MADIT II) and the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure (SCD-HeFT) defined the principles for indication, of ICDs in primary prophylaxis of SCD of […]

The latest epidemiological report from the American Heart Association indicates that 6.2 million Americans over 20 years of age had heart failure (HF), with the projection that this number could reach 8 million by 2030. In Brazil, between 2008 and 2017, HF was the leading cardiovascular cause of hospitalization, accounting for 2.25% of all hospitalizations, with mortality of 14/100,000. According to Fernandes et al., this rate reaches 19.2/100,000 in less developed states of Brazil. Faced with the prevalence of the […]