Brilliant violet fluorochromes in simultaneous multicolor flow cytometry-fluorescence in situ hybridization measurement of monocyte subsets and telomere length in heart failure.

Conventional analytical methods to determine telomere length (TL) have been replaced by more precise and reproducible procedures, such as fluorescence in situ hybridization coupled with flow cytometry (flow-FISH). However, simultaneous measurement of TL and cell phenotype remains difficult. Relatively expensive and time-consuming cell-sorting purification is needed to counteract the loss, due to stringent FISH conditions, of prehybridization fluorescence by the organic fluorochromes conventionally used in the phenotyping step.

Fragility is a key determinant of survival in heart failure patients.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition with poor prognosis, and has a high prevalence among older adults. Due to older age, fragility is often present among HF patients. However, even young HF patients show a high degree of fragility.

Educational level and self-care behaviour in patients with heart failure before and after nurse educational intervention.

Background: Self-care is important for heart failure (HF) management and may be influenced by the patient's educational level.

Aim: We assessed the relationship of educational level with baseline self-care behaviour and changes one year after a nursing intervention in HF outpatients attending a HF unit.

Patients And Method: Three hundred and thirty-five HF patients were studied, with a median age of 67 years (P(25-75) 57-75) and a median HF duration of six months (P(25-75) 1-36).

Effect of fragility on quality of life in patients with heart failure.

Heart failure (HF) is a chronic disease that frequently causes quality of life (QoL) impairment. We aimed to evaluate whether fragility affects QoL perception in outpatients with HF across age strata. The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLWHFQ) was used to assess QoL, and fragility was defined according to basic standardized geriatric scales.

Quality of life monitoring in ambulatory heart failure patients: temporal changes and prognostic value.

Aims: Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition that typically affects a patient's quality of life (QoL). Little is known about long-term QoL monitoring in HF. This study aimed to evaluate the temporal changes and prognostic value of QoL assessment in a real-life cohort of HF patients.

Depression, antidepressants, and long-term mortality in heart failure.

Background: This study was designed to assess whether depression and the use of antidepressants were related to long-term mortality in heart failure.

Methods: Heart failure outpatients (n=1017) from a specialized tertiary unit in Spain were prospectively studied for a median follow-up of 5.4 years (IQR 3.

Combined use of high-sensitivity ST2 and NTproBNP to improve the prediction of death in heart failure.

Aims: To address the incremental usefulness of biomarkers from different disease pathways for predicting risk of death in heart failure (HF).

Methods And Results: We used data from consecutive patients treated at a structured multidisciplinary HF unit to investigate whether a combination of biomarkers reflecting ventricular fibrosis, remodelling, and stretch [ST2 and N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP)] improved the risk stratification of a HF patient beyond an assessment based on established mortality risk factors (age, sex, ischaemic aetiology, left ventricular ejection fraction, New York Heart Association functional class, diabetes, glomerular filtration rate, sodium, haemoglobin, and beta-blocker and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin II receptor blocker treatments). ST2 was measured with a novel high-sensitivity immunoassay.

Mortality and cause of death in patients with heart failure: findings at a specialist multidisciplinary heart failure unit.

Introduction And Objectives: Heart failure mortality is similar to or even higher than that due to various cancers. It is usually associated with disease progression, though sudden death has also been reported as a frequent cause of mortality. The objectives of this study were to investigate mortality and its causes in outpatients with heart failure of different etiologies who were treated in a specialist multidisciplinary unit, and to identify associated factors.