Heart failure is a clinical syndrome caused by cardiac dysfunction. It is often categorised by ejection fraction, quantified by cardiac imaging - commonly echocardiography. Historically the most common aetiology was ischaemic heart disease, however other causes are becoming more prevalent. Increasing number of patients are presenting with heart failure secondary to congenital heart disease, inherited cardiomyopathies, diabetes or metabolic syndrome, obesity, pregnancy complications, arrhythmias, or myocarditis to name a few.
There are several medications which have demonstrated benefit in individuals with reduced ejection fraction, and device therapy is indicated for those at highest risk. The evidence-based therapy for those with preserved ejection fraction has historically been limited, however more recently SGLT2 inhibitors have shown benefit.
The scope of this topic is to better characterise the heterogenous heart failure population and improve our understanding of heart failure presentation and management in specific populations who are traditionally under-represented in the current literature. We would like to help fill in the “blanks”; too many cardiovascular trials include mostly white men in their 60s but they don’t represent many of the “real world” patients seen by doctors and nurses.
The aim of this topic is to create a collection of articles focusing on heart failure in under-
represented and special populations such as older patients, women and ethnic minorities, and heart failure in patients with congenital heart disease, pregnancy complications, and inherited cardiomyopathies and other non-ischaemic aetiologies.
Heart failure is a clinical syndrome caused by cardiac dysfunction. It is often categorised by ejection fraction, quantified by cardiac imaging - commonly echocardiography. Historically the most common aetiology was ischaemic heart disease, however other causes are becoming more prevalent. Increasing number of patients are presenting with heart failure secondary to congenital heart disease, inherited cardiomyopathies, diabetes or metabolic syndrome, obesity, pregnancy complications, arrhythmias, or myocarditis to name a few.
There are several medications which have demonstrated benefit in individuals with reduced ejection fraction, and device therapy is indicated for those at highest risk. The evidence-based therapy for those with preserved ejection fraction has historically been limited, however more recently SGLT2 inhibitors have shown benefit.
The scope of this topic is to better characterise the heterogenous heart failure population and improve our understanding of heart failure presentation and management in specific populations who are traditionally under-represented in the current literature. We would like to help fill in the “blanks”; too many cardiovascular trials include mostly white men in their 60s but they don’t represent many of the “real world” patients seen by doctors and nurses.
The aim of this topic is to create a collection of articles focusing on heart failure in under-
represented and special populations such as older patients, women and ethnic minorities, and heart failure in patients with congenital heart disease, pregnancy complications, and inherited cardiomyopathies and other non-ischaemic aetiologies.