Spotlight on the 2024 ESC/EACTS management of atrial fibrillation guidelines: 10 novel key aspects.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) remains the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC)/European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) have recently released the 2024 guidelines for the management of AF. This review highlights 10 novel aspects of the ESC/EACTS 2024 Guidelines.

Phenotyping patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure.

Aims: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) are prevalent comorbidities associated with significant morbidity/mortality. We assessed prevalence of, patient profiles and outcomes associated with COPD across the ejection fraction (EF) spectrum.

Methods: HF patients enrolled in the Swedish HF registry between 2005 and 2021 were considered.

Addition of Bempedoic Acid to Statin-Ezetimibe versus Statin Titration in Patients with High Cardiovascular Risk: A Single-Centre Prospective Study.

Reducing levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) below recommended thresholds is a core component of cardiovascular prevention strategies. We hypothesized that the addition of bempedoic acid to patients already on statin-ezetimibe therapy was more effective than titrating the statin dose in reducing LDL-C. The study enrolled 120 patients at high cardiovascular risk and with LDL-C above 70 mg/dL.

Standardized assessment of evidence supporting the adoption of mobile health solutions: A Clinical Consensus Statement of the ESC Regulatory Affairs Committee: Developed in collaboration with the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing & Allied Professions (ACNAP) of the ESC, the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC, the ESC Young Community, the ESC Working Group on e-Cardiology, the ESC Council for Cardiology Practice, the ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology, the ESC Council on Hypertension, the ESC Patient Forum, the ESC Digital Health Committee, and the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC).

Mobile health (mHealth) solutions have the potential to improve self-management and clinical care. For successful integration into routine clinical practice, healthcare professionals (HCPs) need accepted criteria helping the mHealth solutions' selection, while patients require transparency to trust their use. Information about their evidence, safety and security may be hard to obtain and consensus is lacking on the level of required evidence.

Heart failure in Europe: Guideline-directed medical therapy use and decision making in chronic and acute, pre-existing and de novo, heart failure with reduced, mildly reduced, and preserved ejection fraction - the ESC EORP Heart Failure III Registry.

Aims: We analysed baseline characteristics and guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) use and decisions in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Heart Failure (HF) III Registry.

Methods And Results: Between 1 November 2018 and 31 December 2020, 10 162 patients with acute HF (AHF, 39%, age 70 [62-79], 36% women) or outpatient visit for HF (61%, age 66 [58-75], 33% women), with HF with reduced (HFrEF, 57%), mildly reduced (HFmrEF, 17%) or preserved (HFpEF, 26%) ejection fraction were enrolled from 220 centres in 41 European or ESC-affiliated countries. With AHF, 97% were hospitalized, 2.

The Dual Burden of Frailty and Heart Failure.

Frailty is highly prevalent among patients with heart failure (HF) and independently predicts adverse outcomes. However, optimal frailty definitions, assessments, and management in HF remain unclear. Frailty is common in HF, affecting up to 80% of patients depending on population characteristics.

New Therapeutics for Heart Failure Worsening: Focus on Vericiguat.

Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome characterized by signs and symptoms resulting from structural or functional cardiac abnormalities, confirmed by elevated natriuretic peptides or evidence of congestion. HF patients are classified according to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Worsening HF (WHF) is associated with increased short- and long-term mortality, re-hospitalization, and healthcare costs.

Measuring spatial navigation during locomotion in children: A systematic review.

Spatial navigation allows us to move around our environment, walking being the most advanced form of human locomotion. Over the years, a range of tools has been developed to study spatial navigation in children. To describe the role of locomotion during the assessment of spatial navigation in children, providing an overview of the instruments available for assessing spatial navigation in typically developing children and those with neurodevelopmental disorders.

European Society of Cardiology quality indicators update for the care and outcomes of adults with heart failure. The Heart Failure Association of the ESC.

Aims: To update the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) quality indicators (QIs) for the evaluation of the care and outcomes of adults with heart failure.

Methods And Results: The Working Group comprised experts in heart failure including members of the ESC Clinical Practice Guidelines Task Force for heart failure, members of the Heart Failure Association, and a patient representative. We followed the ESC methodology for QI development.

The Contribution of Internal and External Factors to Human Spatial Navigation.

Spatial navigation is a multifaceted cognitive function essential for planning and finding routes in one's environment [...

OPTImal PHARMacological therapy for patients with heart failure: Rationale and design of the OPTIPHARM-HF registry.

Aims: Patients with heart failure (HF) remain often undertreated for multiple reasons, including treatment inertia, contraindications, and intolerance. The OPTIimal PHARMacological therapy for patients with Heart Failure (OPTIPHARM-HF) registry is designed to evaluate the prevalence of evidence-based medical treatment prescription and titration, as well as the causes of its underuse, in a broad real-world population of consecutive patients with HF across the whole ejection fraction spectrum and among different clinical phenotypes.

Methods: The OPTIPHARM-HF registry (NCT06192524) is a prospective, multicenter, observational, national study of adult patients with symptomatic HF, as defined by current international guidelines, regardless of ejection fraction.

Diabetic myocardial disorder. A clinical consensus statement of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC and the ESC Working Group on Myocardial & Pericardial Diseases.

The association between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and heart failure (HF) has been firmly established; however, the entity of diabetic myocardial disorder (previously called diabetic cardiomyopathy) remains a matter of debate. Diabetic myocardial disorder was originally described as the occurrence of myocardial structural/functional abnormalities associated with T2DM in the absence of coronary heart disease, hypertension and/or obesity. However, supporting evidence has been derived from experimental and small clinical studies.

Betting on Your Feelings: The Interplay between Emotion and Cognition in Gambling Affective Task.

: Gambling Disorder (GD) is a bio-psycho-social disorder resulting from the interaction of clinical, cognitive, and affective factors. Impulsivity is a crucial factor in addiction studies, as it is closely linked to cognitive distortions in GD by encompassing impulsive choices, motor responses, decision-making, and cognitive biases. Also, emotions, mood, temperament, and affective state are crucial in developing and maintaining GD.

Effect of SGLT2-Inhibitors on Polygraphic Parameters in Elderly Patients Affected by Heart Failure, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, and Sleep Apnea.

Obstructive sleep apneas (OSAs) and central sleep apneas (CSAs) are the most common comorbidities in Heart Failure (HF) that are strongly associated with all-cause mortality. Several therapeutic approaches have been used to treat CSA and OSA, but none have been shown to significantly improve HF prognosis. Our study evaluated the effects of a 3-months treatment with sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) on polygraphic parameters in patients with sleep apnea (SA) and HF, across the spectrum of ejection fraction, not treated with continuous positive air pressure (CPAP).

Eligibility for omecamtiv mecarbil in a real-world heart failure population: Data from the Swedish Heart Failure Registry.

Aims: We assessed eligibility for omecamtiv mecarbil (OM) in a real-world cohort with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) according to the selection criteria of the GALACTIC-HF trial (trial scenario) and selected trial´s criteria more likely to impact real-world use (pragmatic scenario).

Methods And Results: We included 31,015 patients with HFrEF lasting ≥3 months and registered in the Swedish HF registry between 2000-2021. Trial eligibility was calculated by applying all the GALACTIC-HF selection criteria.

Differences in presentation, diagnosis and management of heart failure in women. A scientific statement of the Heart Failure Association of the ESC.

Despite the progress in the care of individuals with heart failure (HF), important sex disparities in knowledge and management remain, covering all the aspects of the syndrome, from aetiology and pathophysiology to treatment. Important distinctions in phenotypic presentation are widely known, but the mechanisms behind these differences are only partially defined. The impact of sex-specific conditions in the predisposition to HF has gained progressive interest in the HF community.