Handgrip strength in patients with acute decompensated heart failure: Accuracy as a predictor of malnutrition and prognostic value.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether handgrip strength (HGS) has diagnostic accuracy for malnutrition assessment and whether it is an independent predictor of 90-d mortality in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).

Methods: This cohort study evaluated patients with ADHF within 36 h of hospital admission. Subjective global assessment and handgrip dynamometry were performed and the patients' medical records were analyzed.

Relevant issues to biossimilars licensing.

When the patent of a drug expires, low cost generics may be introduced in market. Trial results that demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the reference product can be extrapolated to the generic, simplifying the approval process. This paradigm cannot be applied to biopharmaceutical products, large molecules difficult to be characterized.