Depression is a common comorbidity in patients with heart failure. Despite being associated with worse outcomes, depression is often unaddressed in this population, possibly due to unfamiliarity of cardiologists with proper diagnosis and management of this disease. Recent data continues to be conflicting in how to address this comorbidity. In this post, Dr. Gale discusses the evidence for managing depression in patients with cardiovascular disease.
Infographic: Role of Neurohormonal Blockade Post-LVAD
Share this post: Created by: Michael Plazak PharmD, BCCP Reviewed by: Brent N. Reed, PharmD, BCCP Share this post:
4 Key Takeaways You Need to Know from the 2021 HFrEF Update
Share this post:Author: Sandeep Devabhakthuni, PharmD, BCCP Since the 2017 American College of Cardiology (ACC) Expert Consensus Decision Pathway (ECDP) for Optimization of Heart Failure Treatment was published, new evidence for novel therapies for HFrEF has demonstrated overwhelmingly positive clinical
SGLT2i in HFrEF Pocket Guide
Share this post: Created by: Kristin Watson PharmD, BCCP Reviewed by: Zachary R. Noel, PharmD, BCCP Share this post:
Iron Deficiency in Heart Failure Pocket Guide
Share this post:Created by: Brent N. Reed PharmD, BCCP Reviewed by: Michael Plazak, PharmD, BCCP Share this post:
Formulary Decisions Matter: 4 reasons to add SGLT2i to your inpatient formulary
Several advances in the pharmacologic treatment of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) have been made in the past several years. Despite known benefits, use of guideline-directed medical therapy in these patients remains wildly suboptimal. There are several reasons for this, including increasing complexity of HF regimens as well therapeutic inertia. While we may not have control over all components of therapeutic inertia, we feel strongly as a pharmacist that we cannot let our inpatient formulary decisions be one of them. As such, here we discuss 4 reasons why you should add these agents to formulary.
Managing Septic Shock in Patients with a Broken Heart: Focus on Hemodynamic Management with Fluids and Vasoactive Agents
Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. Currently, national guidelines do not address sepsis management in patients with underlying heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Several factors make the management of sepsis in patients with HFrEF uniquely challenging, including a heightened risk of volume overload and the need for alternative vasoactive regimens to maintain cardiac output. The purpose of this blog is to provide practical considerations in the hemodynamic management of septic patients with HFrEF using fluids and vasoactive agents.
Help or Hype: Vericiguat for Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction
The recently published VICTORIA study assessed the efficacy and safety of vericiguat, a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, and met its primary composite outcome of death from cardiovascular causes or first hospitalization for heart failure. This blog describes four reasons why despite a technically positive study, I’m not sure I see a significant role for vericiguat in this population.
Update: Vasodilators in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure – Even Muddier Than Before?
In the time since our last post on this topic, two randomized controlled trials have been conducted to test the effects of early vasodilator therapy in patients with acute decompensated heart failure, and both came up short. But is this a failure of the drugs themselves or were the populations simply too diverse to detect an effect?
TRED Lightly: Should Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy be Continued Indefinitely in Everyone?
The TRED-HF trial considerably narrowed the population deemed as being low risk for heart failure relapse following the withdrawal of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT). However, several key subgroups were underrepresented and some patients may still wish to attempt GDMT withdrawal, especially in the setting of adverse effects or excess costs. In this post, we explore three questions that can be used to guide a shared decision-making process regarding GDMT withdrawal.