Browsing by Author "Cannata, Antonio (56950331100)"

Obesity and heart failure (HF) represent two growing pandemics. In the general population, obesity affects one in eight adults and is linked with an increased risk for HF. Obesity is even more common in patients with HF, where it complicates the diagnosis of HF and is linked with worse symptoms and impaired exercise capacity. Over the past few years, new evidence on the mechanisms linking obesity with HF has been reported, particularly in relation to HF with preserved ejection fraction. Novel therapies inducing weight loss appear to have favourable effects on health status and cardiovascular risk. Against the backdrop of this rapidly evolving evidence landscape, HF clinicians are increasingly required to tailor their preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches to HF in the presence of obesity. This scientific statement by the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology provides an up-to-date summary on obesity in HF, covering key areas such as epidemiology, translational aspects, diagnostic challenges, therapeutic approaches, and trial design. © 2025 The Author(s). European Journal of Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.

The multiplicity of coexisting comorbidities affecting patients with heart failure (HF), together with the availability of multiple treatments improving prognosis in HF with reduced ejection fraction, has led to an increase in the number of prescribed medications to each patient. Polypharmacy is defined as the regular use of multiple medications, and over the last years has become an emerging aspect of HF care, particularly in older and frailer patients who are more frequently on multiple treatments, and are therefore more likely exposed to tolerability issues, drug–drug interactions and practical difficulties in management. Polypharmacy negatively affects adherence to treatment, and is associated with a higher risk of adverse drug reactions, impaired quality of life, more hospitalizations and worse prognosis. It is important to adopt and implement strategies for the management of polypharmacy from other medical disciplines, including medication reconciliation, therapeutic revision and treatment prioritization. It is also essential to develop new HF-specific strategies, with the primary goal of avoiding the use of redundant treatments, minimizing adverse drug reactions and interactions, and finally improving adherence. This clinical consensus statement document from the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology proposes a rationale, pragmatic and multidisciplinary approach to drug prescription in the current era of multimorbidity and ‘multi-medication’ in HF. © 2025 The Author(s). European Journal of Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.

Guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) reduces morbidity and mortality, but its implementation is often poor in daily clinical practice. Barriers to implementation include clinical and organizational factors that might contribute to clinical inertia, i.e. avoidance/delay of recommended treatment initiation/optimization. The spectrum of strategies that might be applied to foster GDMT implementation is wide, and involves the organizational set-up of heart failure care pathways, tailored drug initiation/optimization strategies increasing the chance of successful implementation, digital tools/telehealth interventions, educational activities and strategies targeting patient/physician awareness, and use of quality registries. This scientific statement by the Heart Failure Association of the ESC provides an overview of the current state of GDMT implementation in HFrEF, clinical and organizational barriers to implementation, and aims at suggesting a comprehensive framework on how to overcome clinical inertia and ultimately improve implementation of GDMT in HFrEF based on up-to-date evidence. © 2024 The Authors. European Journal of Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.