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Introduction: Heart transplantation (HTx) has emerged as a pivotal intervention for end-stage heart failure, offering significant improvements in survival and quality of life. This manuscript elucidates the landscape of HTx across Latin America (LATAM) from its advent in 1968 through December 2022, shedding light on its evolution, current practices, and regional disparities., Methods: We distributed a structured questionnaire to the national coordinators or representatives of the Interamerican Council of Heart Failure and Pulmonary Hypertension, collating responses from 20 LATAM nations. This approach facilitated a comprehensive aggregation of regional HTx data., Results: A total of 12,374 HTx were performed in 166 centers across 16 LATAM countries, with Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia accounting for the majority of procedures. Pediatric transplants represented 9% of the total caseload, and combined organ transplants were reported in 62.5% of the participating countries, underscoring the complexity and breadth of transplant services in the region., Conclusion: Despite facing infrastructural and logistical challenges, LATAM has demonstrated a robust capacity to conduct high-complexity transplant procedures. The establishment of a structured, regional HTx registry is imperative to enhance data collection and analysis, which in turn can inform clinical decision-making and policy development, ultimately improving patient outcomes across the continent., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: There are limited data on the physical effects of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer (PC), and on the relationships of such measures of adiposity and strength to cardiovascular outcomes., Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the relationships of measures of adiposity and strength to cardiovascular outcomes (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, arterial revascularization, peripheral arterial disease, and venous thromboembolism) in patients with PC. A secondary objective was to characterize the relationships between ADT use and 12-month changes in these physical measures., Methods: This international, prospective cohort study included 3,967 patients with PC diagnosed in the prior 12 months or being treated with ADT for the first time. Median follow-up duration was 2.3 years., Results: Participants' mean age was 68.5 years, and 1,731 (43.6%) were exposed to ADT. ADT was associated with a 1.6% increase in weight, a 2.2% increase in waist circumference, a 1.6% increase in hip circumference, a 0.1% increase in waist-to-hip ratio, a 27.4% reduction in handgrip strength, and a 0.1% decrease in gait speed. High waist circumference and low handgrip strength were associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Adjusting for age, education, race, tobacco and alcohol use, physical activity, cardiovascular disease, glomerular filtration rate, and ADT use, waist circumference above the highest quartile (110 cm) and handgrip strength below the lowest quartile (29.5 kg) were associated with higher likelihoods of a future cardiovascular event, with respective HRs of 1.40 (95% CI: 1.03-1.90; P  = 0.029) and 1.59 (95% CI: 1.14-2.22; P  = 0.006)., Conclusions: ADT was associated with increased adiposity and reduced strength over 12-month follow-up. High waist circumference and low baseline strength were associated with future adverse cardiovascular outcomes., Competing Interests: Research support for this study was provided by the Movember Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, and Tolmar Pharmaceuticals. This study was presented in part at a Late-Breaking Science Session at the Scientific Sessions of the European Society of Cardiology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, August 28, 2023. Dr Leong has received consultancy fees or honoraria from Abbvie, Ferring, Ipsen, Janssen, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Myovant, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, Antev, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boston Scientific, and XFacto; and has received research support from Novartis and Tolmar. Dr Higano has received consultancy fees or honoraria from AstraZeneca, Astellas, Bayer, Genetech, Eli Lilly, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Myovant, Menarini, Tolmar, Vaccitech, and Verity; is a stockholder of CTI Biopharma; and is a data and safety monitoring board member or chair in trials sponsored by AstraZeneca, Advantagene, and Exelixis. Dr Lavallée is an advisory board member for Astellas, Knight, Bayer, and AAA; and has received a grant from Tolmar unrelated to the present work. Dr Gopaul is an advisory board member for and has received honoraria from TerSera, Bayer, Ferring, Abbvie, and Knight. Dr Duceppe has received grant funding from Roche Diagnostics and Abbott Laboratories. Dr Guha is an advisory board member for Pfizer, Myovant, and Novartis; and has received research grants from the American Heart Association (847740 and 863620) and the U.S. Department of Defense PC Research Program (HT94252310158). All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Background: Sarcomeric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) must be differentiated from phenotypically similar conditions because clinical management and prognosis may greatly differ. Patients with unexplained left ventricular hypertrophy require an early, confirmed genetic diagnosis through diagnostic or predictive genetic testing. We tested the feasibility and practicality of the application of a 17-gene next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel to detect the most common genetic causes of HCM and HCM phenocopies, including treatable phenocopies, and report detection rates. Identification of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA) and Fabry disease (FD) is essential because of the availability of disease-specific therapy. Early initiation of these treatments may lead to better clinical outcomes., Methods: In this international, multicenter, cross-sectional pilot study, peripheral dried blood spot samples from patients of cardiology clinics with an unexplained increased left ventricular wall thickness (LVWT) of ≥13 mm in one or more left ventricular myocardial segments (measured by imaging methods) were analyzed at a central laboratory. NGS included the detection of known splice regions and flanking regions of 17 genes using the Illumina NextSeq 500 and NovaSeq 6000 sequencing systems., Results: Samples for NGS screening were collected between May 2019 and October 2020 at cardiology clinics in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. Out of 535 samples, 128 (23.9%) samples tested positive for pathogenic/likely pathogenic genetic variants associated with HCM or HCM phenocopies with double pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants detected in four samples. Among the 132 (24.7%) detected variants, 115 (21.5%) variants were associated with HCM and 17 (3.2%) variants with HCM phenocopies. Variants in MYH7 (n=60, 11.2%) and MYBPC3 (n=41, 7.7%) were the most common HCM variants. The HCM phenocopy variants included variants in the TTR (n=7, 1.3%) and GLA (n=2, 0.4%) genes. The mean (standard deviation) ages of patients with HCM or HCM phenocopy variants, including TTR and GLA variants, were 42.8 (17.9), 54.6 (17.0), and 69.0 (1.4) years, respectively., Conclusions: The overall diagnostic yield of 24.7% indicates that the screening strategy effectively identified the most common forms of HCM and HCM phenocopies among geographically dispersed patients. The results underscore the importance of including ATTR-CA ( TTR variants) and FD ( GLA variants), which are treatable disorders, in the differential diagnosis of patients with increased LVWT of unknown etiology., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://cdt.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/cdt-23-191/coif). All authors report this study was funded by Sanofi. S.M.e.S. received speaker honoraria and grant/research support from Takeda, Pint Pharma, Pfizer and Sanofi; consulting fees from Chiesi Farmaceutici; and support for attending meetings and traveling from Takeda, Pint Pharma, Pfizer and Sanofi; and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. A.V.F.C. received advisory fees and honoraria for lectures from Takeda, Sanofi and Pint-Pharma; support for attending meetings and/or traveling from Sanofi, Takeda and Pint-Pharma; and grant/research support from Multicare; Participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board for Takeda, Sanofi, and Pint-Pharma; and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. M.A. received speaker honoraria from Takeda, Pfizer, and Sanofi; and grant/research support from Novartis and Pfizer; and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. J.P.C. received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. A.A.d.F. received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. A.F. is an employee and shareholder of Sanofi and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. J.E.G.M. received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. F.J.M.G. received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. O.C. received advisory fees from Sanofi Aventis and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. I.M. is an employee and shareholder of Sanofi and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. M.M. is an employee and shareholder of Sanofi and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. C.M. received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. J.L.B.P. received advisory fees from Sanofi and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. M.G.R. received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. M.J.R.G. received advisory fees and honoraria for lectures from Sanofi and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. O.T. receives honoraria and lecture fees from Pfizer and Sanofi, payment for expert testimony from Pfizer; and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. H.O. received speaker honoraria from Sanofi and received support from Sanofi for current research and manuscript. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy. All rights reserved.)

Background: Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) represent conditions that commonly coexist. The impact of AF in HF has yet to be well studied in Latin America. This study aimed to characterize the sociodemographic and clinical features, along with patients' outcomes with AF and HF from the Colombian Heart Failure Registry (RECOLFACA)., Methods: Patients with ambulatory HF and AF were included in RECOLFACA, mainly with persistent or permanent AF. A 6-month follow-up was performed. Primary outcome was all-cause mortality. To assess the impact of AF on mortality, we used a logistic regression model. A P value of < 0.05 was considered significant. All statistical tests were two-tailed., Results: Of 2,528 patients with HF in the registry, 2,514 records included information regarding AF diagnosis. Five hundred sixty (22.3%) were in AF (mean age 73 ± 11, 56% men), while 1,954 had no AF (mean age 66 ± 14 years, 58% men). Patients with AF were significantly older and had a different profile of comorbidities and implanted devices compared to non-AF patients. Moreover, AF diagnosis was associated with lower quality of life score (EuroQol-5D), mainly in mobility, personal care, and daily activity. AF was prevalent in patients with preserved ejection fraction (EF), while no significant differences in N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels were observed. Although higher mortality was observed in the AF group compared to individuals without AF (8.9% vs. 6.1%, respectively; P = 0.016), this association lost statistical significance after adjusting by age in a multivariate regression model (odds ratio (OR): 1.35; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.95 - 1.92)., Conclusions: AF is more prevalent in HF patients with higher EF, lower quality of life and different clinical profiles. Similar HF severity and non-independent association with mortality were observed in our cohort. These results emphasize the need for an improved understanding of the AF and HF coexistence phenomenon., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any competing interests., (Copyright 2024, Rivera-Toquica et al.)

Background: Socioeconomic factors contribute to a more severe impact of COVID-19 in Latin American and Caribbean (LA&C) countries than in developed countries. Patients with a severe or critical illness can develop respiratory and cardiovascular complications., Objective: To describe a LA&C population with COVID-19 to provide information related to this disease, in-hospital cardiovascular complications, and in-hospital mortality., Methods: The CARDIO COVID-19-20 Registry is an observational, multicenter, prospective, and hospital-based registry of patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection that required in-hospital treatment in LA&C. Enrollment of patients started on May 01, 2020, and ended on June 30, 2021., Results: The CARDIO COVID-19-20 Registry included 3260 patients from 44 institutions of 14 LA&C countries. 63.2% patients were male and median age was 61.0 years old. Most common comorbidities were overweight/obesity (49.7%), hypertension (49.0%), and diabetes mellitus (26.7%). Most frequent cardiovascular complications during hospitalization or reported at discharge were cardiac arrhythmia (9.1%), decompensated heart failure (8.5%), and pulmonary embolism (3.9%). The number of patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was 1745 (53.5%), and median length of their stay at the ICU was 10.0 days. Support required in ICU included invasive mechanical ventilation (34.2%), vasopressors (27.6%), inotropics (10.3%), and vasodilators (3.7%). Rehospitalization after 30-day post discharge was 7.3%. In-hospital mortality and 30-day post discharge were 25.5% and 2.6%, respectively., Conclusions: According to our findings, more than half of the LA&C population with COVID-19 assessed required management in ICU, with higher requirement of invasive mechanical ventilation and vasoactive support, resulting in a high in-hospital mortality and a considerable high 30-day post discharge rehospitalization and mortality., Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s).)

Purpose: Therapy for cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes long-term anticoagulation, which may have substantial impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of patients. We assessed patient-reported outcomes to characterize the HRQL associated with VTE treatment and to begin to examine those HRQL elements impacting anticoagulation adherence (AA)., Methods: Participants were adult cancer patients with confirmed symptomatic acute lower extremity deep venous thrombosis. Patients were excluded if there was an indication for anticoagulation other than VTE, ECOG performance status >3, or life expectancy < 3 months. Participants were assessed with a self-reported adherence tool. HRQL was measured with a 6-domain questionnaire using a seven-point Likert scale. Evaluations were performed at 30 days and 3 months after enrollment. For the primary objective, an overall adherence rate was calculated at each time point of evaluation. For the HRQL domains, non-parametric testing was used to compare results between subgroups., Results: Seventy-four patients were enrolled. AA and HRQL at 30 days and 3 months were assessed in 50 and 36 participants, respectively. At 30 days the AA rate was 90%, and at 3 months it was 83%. In regard to HRQL, patients suffered frequent and moderate-severe distress in the domains of emotional and physical symptoms, sleep disturbance, and limitations to physical activity. An association between emotional or physical distress and AA was observed., Conclusion: Patients with VTE suffer a substantial impairment of their HRQL. Increased emotional distress correlated with better long-term AA. These results can be used to inform additional research aimed at developing novel strategies to improve AA., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The EMPEROR-Preserved trial showed that the sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor empagliflozin significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure (HHF) in heart failure patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)  > 40%. Here, we report the results of a pre-specified analysis that separately evaluates these patients stratified by LVEF: preserved (≥ 50%) (n = 4,005; 66.9%) or mid-range (41-49%). In patients with LVEF  ≥ 50%, empagliflozin reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or HHF (the primary endpoint) by 17% versus placebo (hazard ratio (HR) 0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.71-0.98, P = 0.024). For the key secondary endpoint, the HR for total HHF was 0.83 (95%CI: 0.66-1.04, P = 0.11). For patients with an LVEF of 41-49%, the HR for empagliflozin versus placebo was 0.71 (95%CI: 0.57-0.88, P = 0.002) for the primary outcome (P interaction  = 0.27), and 0.57 (95%CI: 0.42-0.79, P < 0.001) for total HHF (P interaction  = 0.06). These results, together with those from the EMPEROR-Reduced trial in patients with LVEF < 40%, support the use of empagliflozin across the full spectrum of LVEF in heart failure., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: There is a lack of epidemiological data around heart failure (HF) in Latin America; the potential impact description of this disease in middle-income countries is relevant., Objective: This study aimed to describe the characteristics and healthcare resource utilization patterns of HF patients at baseline and six-month follow-up., Methods: This retrospective observational study used data from the RECOLFACA ( Registro Colombiano de Falla Cardíaca ) registry, which includes data obtained from the examination of clinical records from 2,528 patients in 60 Colombian healthcare institutions. Baseline and six-month follow-up data were evaluated from patients with previous hospital admissions due to HF during the 12 months prior to enrollment., Results: This study analyzed 2,045 patients (42.8% female) with a mean age of 67.71 ± 13.64 years. The most common etiologies were ischemic (44.4%) and hypertensive heart disease (38.5%). At baseline, 53.4% of patients were classified with NYHA class II, and 73.6% had a reduced left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF). A year prior to entering the registry, patients were hospitalized an average of 1.4 ± 1.1 times due to HF. Prescription of evidence-based treatment at baseline included sacubitril/valsartan (10%), ACEI (33%), ARB (41%), beta-blocker (79%), diuretics (68%), and MRA (56%). The average quality of life score measured using the EQ-5D-3L questionnaire was 78.7 ± 20.8 at baseline and 82.3 ± 20.1 at the six-month follow-up. The mortality rate was 6.7%., Conclusions: The use of information from the RECOLFACA registry allowed characterization as well as analyses of healthcare resource utilization of patients with heart failure in Colombia. The results of this study show that multiple evidence-based treatments for HF are being widely used in Colombia, but there seems to be room for improvement regarding some interventions for the treatment of patients with HF., Competing Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s).)

Background: A growing proportion of transplant donors and recipients have a history of COVID-19 infection. This study sought to characterize clinical practice after recipient or donor COVID-19 infection., Methods: An online survey was distributed to heart transplant clinicians through a professional society message board and social media. Responses were collected between September 29 and November 5, 2021., Results: There were 222 health care professionals (68% transplant cardiologists, 22% transplant surgeons, 10% other) across diverse geographic regions who completed the survey. While there was significant variation in donor acceptance, as it relates to past and current COVID-19 infection, the respondents were fairly cautious: 28% would not typically accept a donor with a history of COVID-19 regardless of the infection course and > 80% would not accept donors who had evidence of myocardial dysfunction during past COVID-19 infection, or who died of COVID-19 or its complications. The timing of candidate reactivation on the waiting list after COVID-19 infection also varied and often diverged from scenarios addressed by social guidelines. Eighty-one percent of the respondents felt COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory before transplant, but this rate varied by geographic region., Conclusion: Our results reflect evolving experience of the heart transplant field at a time of lack of high-quality evidence. In the absence of longer-term outcome data for donors and transplant candidates with history of COVID-19 infection, clinicians remain cautious; however, this approach will likely need to be refined as an increasing proportion of the population will continue to be infected with COVID-19., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Schistosomiasis is a Neglected Tropical Disease which may lead to cardiovascular (CV) complications. However, the CV involvement in schistosomiasis has yet to be fully elucidated due to the limited number of cases and lack of reliable evidence, as schistosomiasis typically occurs in locations without adequate infrastructure for robust data collection., Objective: This systematic review aims to assess cardiovascular implications of schistosomiasis, including in the diagnosis and treatment, and propose an algorithm for screening of CV manifestations., Methods: A systematic review was performed in the MEDLINE/PubMed and LILACS databases of articles on the CV involvement in schistosomiasis., Results: Thirty-three records were considered for this review: six review articles, one systematic review, one clinical trial, 14 observational studies, seven case reports, and four cases series. CV involvement includes a wide spectrum of clinical conditions, such as myocardial ischemia, ventricular dysfunction, myocarditis, pulmonary arterial hypertension, and pericarditis., Conclusions: Cardiac complications of schistosomiasis may cause long-term disability and death. Clinical monitoring, physical examination, early electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram should be considered as key measures to detect CV involvement. Due to the lack of effective treatment of complications, sanitation and education in endemic areas are necessary for the elimination of this global health problem.

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors reduce the risk of hospitalization for heart failure in patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction, but their effects in patients with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction are uncertain., Methods: In this double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 5988 patients with class II-IV heart failure and an ejection fraction of more than 40% to receive empagliflozin (10 mg once daily) or placebo, in addition to usual therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure., Results: Over a median of 26.2 months, a primary outcome event occurred in 415 of 2997 patients (13.8%) in the empagliflozin group and in 511 of 2991 patients (17.1%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69 to 0.90; P<0.001). This effect was mainly related to a lower risk of hospitalization for heart failure in the empagliflozin group. The effects of empagliflozin appeared consistent in patients with or without diabetes. The total number of hospitalizations for heart failure was lower in the empagliflozin group than in the placebo group (407 with empagliflozin and 541 with placebo; hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.61 to 0.88; P<0.001). Uncomplicated genital and urinary tract infections and hypotension were reported more frequently with empagliflozin., Conclusions: Empagliflozin reduced the combined risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure in patients with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction, regardless of the presence or absence of diabetes. (Funded by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly; EMPEROR-Preserved ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03057951)., (Copyright © 2021 Massachusetts Medical Society.)

Background: Neurological complications occur between 50 and 70% of patients with heart transplantation, including cerebrovascular events, infections, seizures, encephalopathy, and neurotoxicity due to pharmacological immunosuppression. Mortality associated with cerebrovascular complications is 7.5% in the first 30 days and up to 5.3% after the first month and up to the first year after transplantation. Case Reports . Three heart-transplanted patients (2 men and 1 woman) treated with tacrolimus were identified. They presented with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome on days 5, 6, and 58 posttransplantation, respectively. In these reported cases, no sequelae were observed at 6 months follow-up., Conclusions: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome as a neurological complication in patients with HT occurred early after the procedure. Early diagnosis and treatment might reduce the risk of serious complications and mortality., Competing Interests: The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 Julián Alejandro Rivillas et al.)

Introduction: Malaria is an endemic infection in tropical circles. It can be transmitted from mosquitoes bite, but exceptional cases have been attributed to multiorgan transplantation., Case Report: This is a 34-year-old woman who received a heart transplant for final-stage dilated cardiomyopathy. Over the hospitalization, she developed fever, cephalalgia, and tonic-clonic seizures with MRI findings compatible with posterior reversible encephalopathy. A thick blood smear revealed hemoparasitic forms of Plasmodium vivax. Afterward, malaria was also diagnosed in recipients of one kidney and liver of the same organ donor. First-line treatment with artesunate was prescribed for 3 days and chloroquine with primaquine thereafter for 14 days. The patient was discharged and returned to the emergency department 5 days later, complaining of gastrointestinal symptoms and developed multiorgan failure that led to death., Conclusion: We report a case of malaria transmission through heart transplantation. Despite adequate and supervised treatment, it can be related to a fatal outcome. Malaria screening in organ donors should be considered in regions where endemicity can lead to rare cases of transmission by transplantation., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

In this document, we propose a universal definition of heart failure (HF) as the following: HF is a clinical syndrome with symptoms and or signs caused by a structural and/or functional cardiac abnormality and corroborated by elevated natriuretic peptide levels and or objective evidence of pulmonary or systemic congestion. We propose revised stages of HF as follows. At-risk for HF (Stage A), for patients at risk for HF but without current or prior symptoms or signs of HF and without structural or biomarkers evidence of heart disease. Pre-HF (stage B), for patients without current or prior symptoms or signs of HF, but evidence of structural heart disease or abnormal cardiac function, or elevated natriuretic peptide levels. HF (Stage C), for patients with current or prior symptoms and/or signs of HF caused by a structural and/or functional cardiac abnormality. Advanced HF (Stage D), for patients with severe symptoms and/or signs of HF at rest, recurrent hospitalizations despite guideline-directed management and therapy (GDMT), refractory or intolerant to GDMT, requiring advanced therapies such as consideration for transplant, mechanical circulatory support, or palliative care. Finally, we propose a new and revised classification of HF according to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). The classification includes HF with reduced EF (HFrEF): HF with an LVEF of ≤40%; HF with mildly reduced EF (HFmrEF): HF with an LVEF of 41% to 49%; HF with preserved EF (HFpEF): HF with an LVEF of ≥50%; and HF with improved EF (HFimpEF): HF with a baseline LVEF of ≤40%, a ≥10-point increase from baseline LVEF, and a second measurement of LVEF of >40%., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

In this document, we propose a universal definition of heart failure (HF) as a clinical syndrome with symptoms and/or signs caused by a structural and/or functional cardiac abnormality and corroborated by elevated natriuretic peptide levels and/or objective evidence of pulmonary or systemic congestion. We also propose revised stages of HF as: At risk for HF (Stage A), Pre-HF (Stage B), Symptomatic HF (Stage C) and Advanced HF (Stage D). Finally, we propose a new and revised classification of HF according to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). This includes HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF): symptomatic HF with LVEF ≤40%; HF with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF): symptomatic HF with LVEF 41-49%; HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF): symptomatic HF with LVEF ≥50%; and HF with improved ejection fraction (HFimpEF): symptomatic HF with a baseline LVEF ≤40%, a ≥10 point increase from baseline LVEF, and a second measurement of LVEF > 40%., (© 2021 European Society of Cardiology and Elsevier, Inc.)

Aims: EMPEROR-Preserved is an ongoing trial evaluating the effect of empagliflozin in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). This report describes the baseline characteristics of the EMPEROR-Preserved cohort and compares them with patients enrolled in prior HFpEF trials., Methods and Results: EMPEROR-Preserved is a phase III randomized, international, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial in which 5988 symptomatic HFpEF patients [left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) >40%] with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have been enrolled. Patients were required to have elevated N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations (i.e. >300 pg/mL in patients without and >900 pg/mL in patients with atrial fibrillation) along with evidence of structural changes in the heart or documented history of heart failure hospitalization. Among patients enrolled from various regions (45% Europe, 11% Asia, 25% Latin America, 12% North America), the mean age was 72 ± 9 years, 45% were women. Almost all patients had New York Heart Association class II or III symptoms (99.6%), and 23% had prior heart failure hospitalization within 12 months. Thirty-three percent of the patients had baseline LVEF of 41-50%. The mean LVEF (54 ± 9%) was slightly lower while the median NT-proBNP [974 (499-1731) pg/mL] was higher compared with previous HFpEF trials. Presence of comorbidities such as diabetes (49%) and chronic kidney disease (50%) were common. The majority of the patients were on angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers/angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors (80%) and beta-blockers (86%), and 37% of patients were on mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists., Conclusion: When compared with prior trials in HFpEF, the EMPEROR-Preserved cohort has a somewhat higher burden of comorbidities, lower LVEF, higher median NT-proBNP and greater use of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists at baseline. Results of the EMPEROR-Preserved trial will be available in 2021., (© 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)

The goal of the global congestive heart failure (G-CHF) registry is to collect comparative international data on heart failure characteristics, management, and outcomes and to better understand the determinants that impact the clinical course of heart failure. METHODS: G-CHF is a multicenter, prospective cohort study of adult patients with a new or prior clinical diagnosis of heart failure. We have enrolled 23,047 participants from 257 centers in 40 countries from 8 major geographic regions of the world, with recruitment ongoing. Approximately 4,000 participants will also participate in substudies to assess frailty, comorbidity, diet, barriers to care, biomarkers, and planned detailed echocardiographic analyses. Follow-up is planned for a period of 5 years. The primary outcome is cause-specific mortality. Key secondary outcomes include hospitalizations, quality of life, and major cardiovascular and noncardiovascular outcomes. A total of 31.9% of participants were enrolled as inpatients. Thus far, mean age of the cohort at baseline is 63.1 years, and 60.8% are male. Participants most commonly have heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (53.6%) followed by preserved ejection fraction (24.2%) and midrange ejection fraction (20.6%). The most common causes of heart failure are ischemic (37.8%) followed by hypertensive (20.0%), idiopathic (15.1%), and valvular disease (8.8%). CONCLUSION: G-CHF will provide a greater understanding of the characteristics of the global heart failure population, variations in its management, clinical outcomes, and what continues to impact morbidity and mortality in this high-risk population., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors report receiving grants from Bayer AG to support this study., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: The authors report no relationships that could be construed as a conflict of interest.

This syndrome is due to focal spasm of an epicardial coronary artery, leading to severe myocardial ischemia. Although it is frequently thought that the spasm occurs in arteries without stenosis, many Prinzmetal patients have spasm adjacent to atheromatous plaques. The exact cause of the spasm has not been well defined, but it may be related to the hypercontractility of the vascular smooth muscle due to vasoconstrictor mitogens, leukotrienes, or serotonin. In some patients, it is a manifestation of a vasospastic disorder and it is associated with migraine, Raynaud's phenomenon, or aspirin-induced asthma. We present a case associated with transient ST-segment depression.