Heart Failure 2007 Congress Reports

Please click on title to see session details.

Summary reports and slides are available online during
the Heart Failure 2007 Congress in Hamburg from 9 to 12 June 2007.

Future of Biomarkers in Heart Failure Prof Eugène Braunwald Eugene Braunwald, M.D. is the Distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Chairman of the TIMI Study Group at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Slides (PDF 1,7 Mb)

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BNP is is an obligatory biomarker for longterm management of chronic heart failure - Pro Prof. Guillaume Jondeau Summary: Despite advances in medical therapy of heart failure, mortality remains high. A new approach would be to improve monitoring of patients with chronic heart failure. Biomarkers such as BNP clearly rises this possibility and indications are coming from tials that use of this new parameter is associated with decreased hospitalisation rate. Report | Slides

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 Levosimendan is a firstline drug in the management of acute heart failure - Pro
Prof. Ferenc Follath

Summary: The efficacy of levosimendan, a novel drug with positive inotropic and vasodilating actions, was well documented in patients with decomepensated chronic heart failure with high filling pressures and low cardiac output. Proper pretreatment evaluation is essential to select suitable patients for application as a firstline treatment and to avoid problems due to excessive vasodilation.
Slides

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 Levosimendan is a firstline drug in the management of acute heart failure - Contra
Prof. John Cleland

Summary: Levosimendan proved superior to dobutamine in terms of haemodynamics and survival when studied in patients with severe chronic heart failure in the LIDO study. However, two large studies of levosimendan in acute heart failure failed to show convincing evidence of benefit overall on morbidity or mortality. A modest improvement in symptoms was observed compared to placebo in one study which requires confirmation. Important benefits might have occurred in some subgroups of patients but this also requires confirmation.Slides

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Detection and treatment of depression in routine care of patients with heart failure Prof. Christiane E Angermann Summary: On systematic screeening, depression is frequently diagnosed amongst patients with chronic heart failure, and is known to carry an adverse prognosis. Up to now, no efficacy data regarding hard clinical endpoints are available for any treatment modality of depression in this patient population; however, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibition may favourably influence the mortality risk by improving health behaviour and/or via direct modulation of biological pathways. Report | Slides

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Haemodynamic monitoring: tool or toy? Assoc.Prof. Gerasimos Filippatos Summary: Hemodynamic variables have been considered necessary to guide treatment in critically ill heart failure patients but recent trials did not show any benefit from pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) use. However, the detrimental outcomes may not emanate from the use of a PAC per se but from the lack of effective therapies, lack of knowledge about appropriate use of information received from the PAC or because the information is obtained very late in the course of the disease. New devices could provide additional insight into the difficult problem of early evaluation and management of patients with heart failure. Slides

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