Secondhand smoke exposure and quality of life in patients with heart failure.

Background: Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic heart disease and cardiac events. We sought to assess the effect of SHS on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with heart failure.

Methods: Current nonsmokers with heart failure (N = 205) were enrolled in a cohort study.

Prognostic value of left ventricular end-systolic volume index as a predictor of heart failure hospitalization in stable coronary artery disease: data from the Heart and Soul Study.

Objective: Left ventricular (LV) end-systolic volume indexed to body surface area (ESVI) is a simple yet powerful echocardiographic marker of LV remodeling that can be measured easily. The prognostic value of ESVI and its merit relative to other markers of LV remodeling in patients with coronary heart disease are unknown.

Methods: We examined the association of ESVI with hospitalization for heart failure (HF) and mortality in a prospective study of patients with coronary heart disease.