No abstract

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a wide-spread disease (from 7 to 10% in the Russian Federation) and tends to grow. Frequent, repeated hospitalizations of CHF patients are due to insufficient compliance of patients with the treatment and the absence of continuity in management of patients between the hospital and out-patient clinic. Developing a structure of specialized care could provide improvement of treatment quality, a decrease in the number of hospitalizations, and better prognosis. International experience shows that creation of specialized clinics for heart failure improves quality of medical care in CHF and decreases the frequency of re-hospitalizations and mortality. In the Russian Federation, such clinics were created in Nizhniy Novgorod, Ufa, Saint Petersburg, and several other cities. The article presents an expert consensus on the structure, functions, and equipment of departments and offices for patients with heart failure.

A significant number of studies on chronic heart failure (CHF) are published worldwide. However, the issue of uniform criteria and approaches to accounting for ambulatory care and mortality associated with this pathology in patient accounting systems has remained resolved, meaning the data and indicators obtained in different regions and countries are not comparable. The aim of the article is to substantiate the need for discussion in the Russian Society of Cardiology on the possibility, principles and methodology of uniform accounting of ambulatory care, hospitalizations and deaths associated with chronic heart failure in healthcare using the classifications of heart failure applied in clinical practice.

Aim: To perform clinical characterization of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) in the Moscow Region and to assess if their current treatments meet the current clinical guidelines.Materials and methods: Based on the information submitted from 11  outpatient clinics in the Moscow Region in December 2019, we analyzed retrospective data on 286  patients with CHF, including their concomitant diseases, types of assessments and their results, as well as current treatments.Results: The most common concomitant disease was arterial hypertension (95.1%  of the patients). 53.8% of the patients had previous myocardial infarction, 37.8%, diabetes mellitus, and 34.6%, atrial fibrillation. Chronic kidney disease was present in 18.5% of the patients, valvular heart disease in 11.9%, and past stroke in 10.5%. Of non-cardiovascular diseases, the most common were gastrointestinal disorders (25.2%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma (9.8%), and anemia (5.2%). Only 8% of the patients had one concomitant disease, whereas 72%  had 2  to 3  diseases, and 20%  had at least 4  concomitant diseases. Mean number of comorbidities per patient was 2.7. Echocardiography had been performed in 82.9% of the cases. Mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 51.0±10.11%; in 11.5% of the patients it was≤40%. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated in 58.7%  of the patients. 35.9%  of the patients had a GFR of less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 , in  3.6% it was≤30  mL/min/1.73  m2 . 83.2% of the patients were treated with renin angiotensin aldosterone system blockers (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor antagonists, sacubitril/valsartan), 79.0% with beta-blockers, 53.1% with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. Glycosides had been administered to 6.9% of the patients, and diuretics, to 51.1%. In most cases, the doses administered were below those recommended by the international clinical guidelines.Conclusion: We have confirmed the need to increase the adherence of doctors to the clinical guidelines on assessment and management of CHF patients.