New guidelines for the heart failure treatment (2021)

At this year’s ESC congress in London, it was announced an update of the guidelines for the treatment of chronic heart failure with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Key change compared to last guidelines is withdrawal the long-term titration strategy and introducing a simpler and faster regimen based on four groups of drugs: blocking the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (ACE-I, ARNI), sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitors (dapagliflozin, empagliflozin), β-adrenolytic drugs, mineralocorticoid receptor inhibitors.

Clinical, paraclinical characteristics and real –world treatment of acute heart failure at Hanoi Heart Hospital

Background: At Hanoi Heart Hospital, in recent years, along with the development of science and technology, the development of modern treatment measures such as percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass surgery, heart valve replacement ... helped save the lives of many patients. However, these patients still require continued treatment for heart failure as a complication of the primary illness and thus also increase the number of patients with heart failure, both acute and decompensated. Objective: “Describe the clinical and subclinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with acute heart failure and the status of heart failure treatment according to current heart failure treatment guidelines at Hanoi Heart Hospital”. Method: Cross-sectional, prospective, descriptive analysis with convenient sample size. Results: From January 2018 to december 2018, 475 patients were hospitalized due to acute heart failure or decompensation ,63,8% male and 36, 2% female. Mean age 69,1 ± 13,8; 63,6% newly discovered heart failure; 41,4% EF 40 – 50% and 58,6% EF < 40%; number of Hopital days 8.3 ± 6.2 days(( 1- 46 days); there are five (1.1%) patients died in hospital; among them a patient who was treated for one day due to severe illness died; we have used interventions, assisted circulation and respiration such as CRT, CRT-D, CVVH, IABP, atrial septal defect and ECMO. Conclusion: Results of treatment of acute heart failure at Hanoi Heart Hospital is feasible with rate of discharge is 87,7%.

Het posterieur reversibel encefalopathiesyndroom

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome Being confronted with postoperative complications can be challenging. When a patient shows signs of postoperative neurological deficit, a wide range of possible explanations has to be considered. In this specific case, the diagnosis of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) was made. PRES is characterised by neurological symptoms (headache, confusion, visual changes, paresis and/or convulsions) and certain findings on cerebral imaging (vasogenic oedema, predominantly in the posterior areas of the brain). It is linked to hypertensive disorders, (pre-)eclampsia, certain auto-immune diseases, the use of immunosuppressive medication and kidney failure. Treatment of the hypertension is crucial, but antiseizure drugs and treatment of the underlying disease may also be necessary. Most patients have a complete recovery within 2 weeks. A small minority, however, experiences residual neurologic deficits resulting from secondary cerebral infarction or haemorrhage.

A Case of High Dose Metoprolol Poisoning; Case Report and Literature Review

β-Blockers are prescribed by physicians for many medical reasons (hypertension, long-term prophylaxis of angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, stable heart failure treatment, cardiac arrhythmias, etc.). Although cases of β-blocker poisoning have a low rate of 0.9% among all poisoning cases, they have a high mortality rate. In β-blocker poisoning with high lipid solubility; seizures, respiratory depression, coma, resistant bradycardia-hypotension and shock may occur. Metoprolol, a type of β-blocker, is a selective β1-adrenoceptor antagonist with sympathomimetic effect. It is also reported that metoprolol is the 2nd most commonly prescribed β-blocker after bisoprolol all over the world. This article aims to present a case who took high-dose metoprolol for suicidal purposes and to examine metoprolol poisoning and its treatment in the light of current literature.

Heart failure on peritoneal dialysis: Where do we stand?

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the most frequent cause of death in peritoneal dialysis patients and an important obstacle for the improvement of technique survival. Heart failure diagnosis and management is particularly challenging among dialysis patients, and this condi‑ tion remains underdiagnosed and undertreated in this population. The most common phenotype of heart failure among peritoneal dialysis patients is heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, diastolic disfunction and left ventricular hypertrophy. Unfortunately, unlike what happens with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, there is lack of evidence to support a specific drug regimen to treat heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Several conditions associated with end stage kidney disease, such as anemia, hyperphosphatemia, secondary hyperparathyroidism, inflammation, and insulin resistance seem to be involved in the pathogenesis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and for this reason, the term uremic cardiomyopathy has been proposed. There is a lack of evidence regarding the optimal heart failure treatment for peritoneal dialysis patients and more studies are needed to assess the efficacy and safety of the new drugs available for heart failure treatment. This review explores the spectrum of heart failure on peritoneal dialysis, its pathogenesis, risk factors and possible therapeutic and preventive measures.