Browsing by Author "Ambrosy, Andrew P."

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    Improving Postdischarge Outcomes in Acute Heart Failure
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2018-07) Chioncel, Ovidiu; Collins, Sean P.; Ambrosy, Andrew P.; Pang, Peter S.; Antohi, Elena-Laura; Iliescu, Vlad Anton; Maggioni, Aldo P.; Butler, Javed; Mebazaa, Alexandre; Emergency Medicine, IU School of Medicine
    The global burden that acute heart failure (AHF) carries has remained unchanged over the past several decades (1). European registries (2–5) showed that 1-year outcome rates remain unacceptably high (Table 1) and confirm that hospitalization for AHF represents a change in the natural history of the disease process(6). As patients hospitalized for HF have a bad prognosis, it is crucial to utilize hospitalization as an opportunity to: 1) assess the individual components of the cardiac substrate; 2) identify and treat comorbidities; 3) identify early, safe endpoints of therapy to facilitate timely hospital discharge and outpatient follow-up; and 4) implement and begin optimization guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMTs). As outcomes are influenced by many factors, many of which are incompletely understood, a systematic approach is proposed that should start with admission and continues through post-discharge (7).
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    Predictors of Post-discharge Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized for Acute Heart Failure
    (Radcliffe Cardiology, 2017-11) Chioncel, Ovidiu; Collins, Sean P.; Greene, Stephen J.; Pang, Peter S.; Ambrosy, Andrew P.; Antohi, Elena-Laura; Vaduganathan, Muthiah; Butler, Javed; Gheorghiade, Mihai; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Acute Heart Failure (AHF) is a " multi-event disease" and hospitalisation is a critical event in the clinical course of HF. Despite relatively rapid relief of symptoms, hospitalisation for AHF is followed by an increased risk of death and re-hospitalisation. In AHF, risk stratification from clinically available data is increasingly important in evaluating long-term prognosis. From the perspective of patients, information on the risk of mortality and re-hospitalisation would be helpful in providing patients with insight into their disease. From the perspective of care providers, it may facilitate management decisions, such as who needs to be admitted and to what level of care (i.e. floor, step-down, ICU). Furthermore, risk-stratification may help identify patients who need to be evaluated for advanced HF therapies (i.e. left-ventricle assistance device or transplant or palliative care), and patients who need early a post-discharge follow-up plan. Finally, risk stratification will allow for more robust efforts to identify among risk markers the true targets for therapies that may direct treatment strategies to selected high-risk patients. Further clinical research will be needed to evaluate if appropriate risk stratification of patients could improve clinical outcome and resources allocation.
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    Rationale and Design of a Prospective, Multicenter, Observational Study Evaluating Iron Deficiency in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure (FERIC-RO)
    (Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, 2018-07-01) Antohi, Elena Laura; Chitoiu, Gabriel Tatu; Ambrosy, Andrew P.; Coman, Ioan M.; Vinereanu, Dragos; Collins, Sean P.; Sinescu, Crina; Mihaileanu, Serban; Pang, Peter S.; Butler, Javed; Chioncel, Ovidiu; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Several landmark studies, which enrolled heart failure (HF) patients who were ambulatory at the time of inclusion, identified iron deficiency (ID) as an important therapeutic target: intravenous iron administration with ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) improves morbidity, exercise capacity, and quality of life in patients with HF and reduced EF (HFrEF). However, there is still limited knowledge about ID prevalence during hospitalization for Worsening Chronic HF (WCHF) and about the relationship between ID during hospitalization and post-discharge outcomes. Although previous studies documented ID as an independent risk factor for poor outcomes in HFrEF, its prognostic significance in HF patients with EF>40% remains unclear. Method and Results: The FERIC-RO study is a prospective, multicenter, observational study with longitudinal follow up, conducted in 9 Romanian hospitals that will include 200 consecutive patients admitted for worsening HF. A comprehensive description of the Iron metabolism biomarkers will be performed on discharge and 1-month follow up. The primary endpoint is defined as the prevalence of ID on discharge and 1-month post-discharge, and the secondary endpoints include: all-cause re-hospitalization and all-cause-mortality at 1 and 3 months follow up, and quality of life on discharge and 1-month. Conclusions: FERIC-RO will provide new evidence about the prevalence and the predictors of ID in patients hospitalized for WCHF regardless of LVEF. Furthermore, the study will explore the relationship between in-hospital ID and post-discharge outcomes. The results of FERIC-RO will thus be highly relevant to the management of patients hospitalized for AHF.
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    Therapeutic Advances in the Management of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2019-03) Antohi, Elena-Laura; Ambrosy, Andrew P.; Collins, Sean P.; Ahmed, Ali; Iliescu, Vlad Anton; Cotter, Gad; Pang, Peter S.; Butler, Javed; Chioncel, Ovidiu; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is the most common presenting phenotype of acute heart failure (AHF). The main goal of this article was to review the contemporary management strategies in these patients and to describe how future clinical trials may address unmet clinical needs. Areas of uncertainty: The current pathophysiologic understanding of AHF is incomplete. The guideline recommendations for the management of ADHF are based only on algorithms provided by expert consensus guided by blood pressure and/or clinical signs of congestion or hypoperfusion. The lack of adequately conducted trials to address the unmet need for evidence therapy in AHF has not yet been surpassed, and at this time, there is no evidence-based strategy for targeted decongestive therapy to improve outcomes. The precise time point for initiation of guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMTs), as respect to moment of decompensation, is also unknown. Data sources: The available data informing current management of patients with ADHF are based on randomized controlled trials, observational studies, and administrative databases. Therapeutic advances: A major step-forward in the management of ADHF patients is recognizing congestion, either clinical or hemodynamic, as a major trigger for heart failure (HF) hospitalization and most important target for therapy. However, a strategy based exclusively on congestion is not sufficient, and at present, comprehensive assessment during hospitalization of cardiac and noncardiovascular substrate with identification of potential therapeutic targets represents "the corner-stone" of ADHF management. In the last years, substantial data have emerged to support the continuation of GDMTs during hospitalization for HF decompensation. Recently, several clinical trials raised hypothesis of "moving to the left" concept that argues for very early implementation of GDMTs as potential strategy to improve outcomes. Conclusions: The management of ADHF is still based on expert consensus documents. Further research is required to identify novel therapeutic targets, to establish the precise time point to initiate GDMTs, and to identify patients at risk of recurrent hospitalization.
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    Therapeutic Advances in the Management of Cardiogenic Shock
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2019-03) Chioncel, Ovidiu; Collins, Sean P.; Ambrosy, Andrew P.; Pang, Peter S.; Radu, Razvan I.; Ahmed, Ali; Antohi, Elena-Laura; Masip, Josep; Butler, Javed; Iliescu, Vlad Anton; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a life-threatening state of tissue hypoperfusion, associated with a very high risk of mortality, despite intensive monitoring and modern treatment modalities. The present review aimed at describing the therapeutic advances in the management of CS. Areas of uncertainty: Many uncertainties about CS management remain in clinical practice, and these relate to the intensity of invasive monitoring, the type and timing of vasoactive therapies, the risk-benefit ratio of mechanical circulatory support (MCS) therapy, and optimal ventilation mode. Furthermore, most of the data are obtained from CS in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), although for non-AMI-CS patients, there are very few evidences for etiological or MCS therapies. Data sources: The prospective multicentric acute heart failure registries that specifically presented characteristics of patients with CS, distinct to other phenotypes, were included in the present review. Relevant clinical trials investigating therapeutic strategies in post-AMI-CS patients were added as source information. Several trials investigating vasoactive medications and meta-analysis providing information about benefits and risks of MCS devices were reviewed in this study. Therapeutic advances: Early revascularization remains the most important intervention for CS in settings of AMI, and in patients with multivessel disease, recent trial data recommend revascularization on a "culprit-lesion-only" strategy. Although diverse types of MCS devices improve hemodynamics and organ perfusion in patients with CS, results from almost all randomized trials incorporating clinical end points were inconclusive. However, development of new algorithms for utilization of MCS devices and progresses in technology showed benefit in selected patients. A major advance in the management of CS is development of concept of regional CS centers based on the level of facilities and expertise. The modern systems of care with CS centers used as hubs integrated with emergency medical systems and other referee hospitals have the potential to improve patient outcomes. Conclusions: Additional research is needed to establish new triage algorithms and to clarify intensity and timing of pharmacological and mechanical therapies.
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    Titration of Medications After Acute Heart Failure Is Safe, Tolerated, and Effective Regardless of Risk
    (Elsevier, 2024-09) Ambrosy, Andrew P.; Chang, Alex J.; Davison, Beth; Voors, Adriaan; Cohen-Solal, Alain; Damasceno, Albertino; Kimmoun, Antoine; Lam, Carolyn S. P.; Edwards, Christopher; Tomasoni, Daniela; Gayat, Etienne; Filippatos, Gerasimos; Saidu, Hadiza; Biegus, Jan; Celutkiene, Jelena; Ter Maaten, Jozine M.; Čerlinskaitė-Bajorė, Kamilė; Sliwa, Karen; Takagi, Koji; Metra, Marco; Novosadova, Maria; Barros, Marianela; Adamo, Marianna; Pagnesi, Matteo; Arrigo, Mattia; Chioncel, Ovidiu; Diaz, Rafael; Pang, Peter S.; Ponikowski, Piotr; Cotter, Gad; Mebazaa , Alexandre; Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background Guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) decisions may be less affected by single patient variables such as blood pressure or kidney function and more by overall risk profile. In STRONG-HF (Safety, tolerability and efficacy of up-titration of guideline-directed medical therapies for acute heart failure), high-intensity care (HIC) in the form of rapid uptitration of heart failure (HF) GDMT was effective overall, but the safety, tolerability and efficacy of HIC across the spectrum of HF severity is unknown. Evaluating this with a simple risk-based framework offers an alternative and more clinically translatable approach than traditional subgroup analyses. Objectives The authors sought to assess safety, tolerability, and efficacy of HIC according to the simple, powerful, and clinically translatable MAGGIC (Meta-Analysis Global Group in Chronic) HF risk score. Methods In STRONG-HF, 1,078 patients with acute HF were randomized to HIC (uptitration of treatments to 100% of recommended doses within 2 weeks of discharge and 4 scheduled outpatient visits over the 2 months after discharge) vs usual care (UC). The primary endpoint was the composite of all-cause death or first HF rehospitalization at day 180. Baseline HF risk profile was determined by the previously validated MAGGIC risk score. Treatment effect was stratified according to MAGGIC risk score both as a categorical and continuous variable. Results Among 1,062 patients (98.5%) with complete data for whom a MAGGIC score could be calculated at baseline, GDMT use at baseline was similar across MAGGIC tertiles. Overall GDMT prescriptions achieved for individual medication classes were higher in the HIC vs UC group and did not differ by MAGGIC risk score tertiles (interaction nonsignificant). The incidence of all-cause death or HF readmission at day 180 was, respectively, 16.3%, 18.9%, and 23.2% for MAGGIC risk score tertiles 1, 2, and 3. The HIC arm was at lower risk of all-cause death or HF readmission at day 180 (HR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.50-0.86) and this finding was robust across MAGGIC risk score modeled as a categorical (HR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.62-0.68 in tertiles 1, 2, and 3; interaction nonsignificant) for all comparisons and continuous (interaction nonsignificant) variable. The rate of adverse events was higher in the HIC group, but this observation did not differ based on MAGGIC risk score tertile (interaction nonsignificant). Conclusions HIC led to better use of GDMT and lower HF-related morbidity and mortality compared with UC, regardless of the underlying HF risk profile.