How to Treat Right Heart Failure. Tips for Clinicians in Everyday Practice.

In recent years, several observations reported that intolerance of physical exertion and other cardinal symptoms in heart failure (HF) are closely related to the functionality of the right ventricular (RV), regardless of left heart. It has been demonstrated that the RV dysfunction complicates the course, aggravates the quality of life, and increases the mortality of HF patients. The present review is aimed to report tips physicians about the current therapeutic management of right HF during acute stage and chronic phase, shedding light on the RV and its failure and providing physicians with essential information for everyday clinical practice.

Anabolic hormones and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: looking for Ariadne's thread.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a complex clinical syndrome that accounts for more than half of all heart failure patients. Identification, early diagnosis and management of patients are still complex, and no targeted treatment is available, since all tested drugs were not able to lower hard clinical outcomes. A multi-hormonal deficiency syndrome has been described in HFpEF patients suggesting that different hormones may represent new biomarkers of the disease, but their clinical utility is still debated. The natriuretic peptides are the cornerstone biomarker in heart failure, predicting cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization. Testosterone and DHEA-S deficiencies have been reported in HFpEF and associated with right ventricular impairment and diastolic dysfunction. IGFBP-1/IGF-1 axis correlates with echocardiographic parameters of HFpEF patients and with several prognostic biomarkers including NT-proBNP and C reactive protein. Low triiodothyronine syndrome is frequently found in HFpEF and thyroid hormones should represent a potential biomarker of risk stratification and prognosis.

Sex and gender specific pitfalls and challenges in cardiac rehabilitation: a working hypothesis towards better inclusivity in cardiac rehabilitation programmes.

Notwithstanding its acknowledged pivotal role for cardiovascular prevention, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is still largely under prescribed, in almost 25% of patients owing an indication for. In addition, when considering differences concerning the two sexes, female individuals are underrepresented in CR programmes with lower referral rates, participation, and completion as compared to male counterpart. This picture becomes even more tangled with reference to gender, a complex socio-cultural construct characterized by four domains (gender identity, relation, role, and institutionalized gender). Indeed, each of them reveals several obstacles that considerably penalize CR adherence for different categories of people, especially those who are not identifiable with a non-binary gender. Aim of the present review is to identify the sex- (i.e. biological) and gender- (i.e. socio-cultural) specific obstacles to CR related to biological sex and sociocultural gender and then envision a likely viable solution through tailored treatments towards patients' well-being.

Beneficial Effects on Exercise Capacity Associated with a Combination of Lactoferrin, Lysozyme, Lactobacillus, Resveratrol, Vitamins, and Oligoelements in Patients with Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

Background/Objectives: Although long-term COVID-19 symptoms are common, little is known about the management of post-COVID-19 condition. The aim of the current report is to evaluate the effects of a combination of lactoferrin, lysozyme, lactobacillus, resveratrol, vitamins, and oligoelements (PIRV-F20®) on the exercise capacity of post-COVID-19 patients. Methods: A retrospective analysis of consecutive patients referred to a specific outpatient clinic dedicated to post-COVID-19 condition from April 2022 to April 2023 was conducted. Subjects of both sexes, aged ≥18 years, with previous COVID-19 in the preceding 12 months, persistent symptoms consistent with post-COVID syndrome, and initial exercise impairment were included. Exclusion criteria were as follows: active cancer, end-stage conditions, severe musculoskeletal conditions, or patients with a history of limited functional capacity, pregnancy, or breastfeeding. Patients who reported having taken PIRV-F20® for at least 6 weeks were compared to patients who refused this treatment. Six-minute walking distance was the primary endpoint. Results: Forty-four patients (56.8% women, aged 49.1 ± 18.1 years) were included in the study. The group of patients who reported having taken PIRV-F20® exhibited a significant improvement of 6MWD (median: +40 m; IQR: 10-65 m, p vs. baseline: 0.02), which was significantly superior (p: 0.01) when compared to the controls (median: +10 m; IQR: -5-30 m). No differences were found with regard to muscular strength, echocardiographic parameters, and perception of symptoms. Conclusions: Post-COVID-19 individuals who reported having taken PIRV-F20® for at least six weeks showed a significant improvement in exercise capacity. This finding should be confirmed in larger, prospective, randomized controlled trials.

Testosterone deficiency independently predicts mortality in women with HFrEF: insights from the T.O.S.CA. registry.

AIMS: Testosterone deficiency (TD) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, data in women are scanty. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic impact of TD on women with HFrEF. METHODS: Among 480 patients prospectively enrolled in the T.O.S.CA. (Terapia Ormonale Scompenso CArdiaco) registry, a prospective, multicentre, nationwide, observational study, 94 women were included in the current analysis. The TD was defined as serum testosterone levels lower than 25 ng/dl. Data regarding clinical status, echocardiography, exercise performance, cardiovascular hospitalization, and survival after an average follow-up of 36 months were analysed. RESULTS: Thirty patients (31.9%) displayed TD. TD was associated with lower tricuspid annular plane excursion (TAPSE) to pulmonary arterial systolic pressure PASP ratio (TAPSE/PASP) (P = 0.008), peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) (P = 0.03) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (P < 0.001). TD was an independent predictor of the combined endpoint of all-cause mortality/cardiovascular hospitalization (HR: 10.45; 95% CI: 3.54-17.01; P = 0.001), all-cause mortality (HR: 8.33; 95%: 5.36-15.11; P = 0.039), and cardiovascular hospitalization (HR: 2.41; 95% CI: 1.13-4.50; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: One-third of women with HFrEF displays TD that impacts remarkably on their morbidity and mortality. TD is associated with a worse clinical profile including exercise capacity, right ventricular-pulmonary arterial coupling, and renal function. These findings lend support to an accurate profiling of women with HF, a problem often overlooked in clinical trials.

Cardiovascular Side Effects of Anthracyclines and HER2 Inhibitors among Patients with Breast Cancer: A Multidisciplinary Stepwise Approach for Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment.

Cardiovascular (CV) diseases (CVD) are a major cause of long-term morbidity and mortality affecting life expectancy amongst cancer survivors. In recent years, because of the possibility of early diagnosis and the increased efficacy of neo-adjuvant and adjuvant systemic treatments (targeting specific molecular pathways), the high percentage of survival from breast cancer led CVD to become the first cause of death among survivors. Therefore, it is mandatory to adopt cardioprotective strategies to minimize CV side effects and CVD in general in breast cancer patients. Cancer therapeutics-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) is a common group of side effects of chemotherapeutics widely employed in breast cancer (e.g., anthracycline and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 inhibitors). The aim of the present manuscript is to propose a pragmatic multidisciplinary stepwise approach for prevention, early detection, and treatment of cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer.

What have we learned so far from the sex/gender issue in heart failure? An overview of current evidence.

There are important differences in epidemiology, pathophysiology, HF patterns, prognosis, and treatment. Women have a higher incidence of HFpEF due to sex-specific factors (such as anthropometry, role of estrogens, pregnancy-related cardiomyopathies), increased incidence of comorbidities, and gender-specific conditions. Men instead present a predisposition to the development of HFrEF due to a higher incidence of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction. However, there are still gaps in the management of women with HF. The poor inclusion of women in clinical trials may have contributed to a lesser understanding of disease behavior than in men. In addition, a full understanding of gender-specific factors that are studied in small populations is lacking in the literature, and only in recent years, studies have increased their focus on this issue. Understanding how society, family, and environment affect the prognosis of HF patients may help clinicians provide more appropriate levels of care. In this overview, we aimed at summarizing all the key available evidence regarding sex/gender differences in heart failure.

Effects of Exercise on Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: An Updated Review of Literature.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) represents the most common HF phenotype of patients aged > 65 years, with an incidence and a prevalence that are constantly growing. The HFpEF cardinal symptom is exercise intolerance (EI), defined as the impaired ability to perform physical activity and to reach the predicted age-related level of exercise duration in the absence of symptoms­such as fatigue or dyspnea­and is associated with a poor quality of life, a higher number of hospitalizations, and poor outcomes. The evidence of the protective effect between exercise and adverse cardiovascular outcomes is numerous and long-established. Regular exercise is known to reduce cardiovascular events and overall mortality both in apparently healthy individuals and in patients with established cardiovascular disease, representing a cornerstone in the prevention and treatment of many cardio-metabolic conditions. Several studies have investigated the role of exercise in HFpEF patients. The present review aims to dwell upon the effects of exercise on HFpEF. For this purpose, the relevant data from a literature search (PubMed, EMBASE, and Medline) were reviewed. The analysis of these studies underlines the fact that exercise training programs improve the cardiorespiratory performance of HFpEF patients in terms of the increase in peak oxygen uptake, the 6 min walk test distance, and the ventilatory threshold; on the other hand, diastolic or systolic functions are generally unchanged or only partially modified by exercise, suggesting that multiple mechanisms contribute to the improvement of exercise tolerance in HFpEF patients. In conclusion, considering that exercise training programs are able to improve the cardiorespiratory performance of HFpEF patients, the prescription of exercise training programs should be encouraged in stable HFpEF patients, and further research is needed to better elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms underpinning the beneficial effects described.

Can pulse wave velocity (PWV) alone express arterial stiffness? A neglected tool for vascular function assessment.

Arterial stiffness, defined as the rigidity of the arterial wall, is the consequence of vascular aging and is associated with the full spectrum of cardiovascular diseases. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) is the gold standard method for arterial stiffness evaluation: it measures the velocity of the arterial pulse along the thoracic and abdominal aorta alongside arterial distensibility. Its value rises as stiffness progresses. Cf-PWV is helpful to assess residual cardiovascular risk (CVR) in hypertension (HT). In fact, an increase in pulsatility and arterial stiffness predicts CVR in patients affected by arterial HT, independently of other risk factors. Arterial stiffness can predict cardiovascular events in several other clinical conditions such as heart failure, diabetes, and pulmonary HT. However, cf-PWV has not been yet included in routine clinical practice so far. A possible reason might be its methodological and theoretical limitations (inaccuracy in the traveled distance, intra and interindividual variability, lack of well-defined references values, and age- and blood pressure-independent cutoff). To exceed these limits a strict adherence to guidelines, use of analytical approaches, and possibility of integrating the results with other stiffness examinations are essential approaches.