June 2022 at a glance: prevention, outcomes and treatment

Abstract

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a major cause of heart failure (HF). [1][2][3] Rastogi et al. 4 showed different characteristics associated with the progression to HF in patients with or without a history of MI in the HOMAGE (Heart 'OMics' in AGEing) cohort. Older age, male sex and higher heart rate were associated with an increased risk of HF in all subjects, whereas lower renal function had a stronger association with HF in patients with a history of MI, and higher body mass index, hypertension and blood glucose were significant only in patients without a history of MI. These data were confirmed in the UK Biobank (validation cohort). 4 Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major risk factor for HF. 2,5 Janus et al. 6 investigated the usefulness of biomarkers to predict the risk of HF in 3182 patients with CKD in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC). Four biomarkers -B-type natriuretic peptide, fibroblast growth factor-23, fibrinogen and high-sensitivity troponin T -were associated with incident HF after adjustment for other risk factors and their inclusion allowed a better risk stratification for incident HF. Acute myocarditisOutcomes of acute myocarditis are not clearly defined. 3,22,23 A total of 466 consecutive patients, with clinically suspected or biopsy-proven myocarditis, were enrolled in a single centre prospective study from 1992 to 2012. Survival free from death or heart transplantation at 10 years was 83% and was lower in biopsy-proven versus clinically suspected myocarditis (76% vs. 94%, p < 0.001). Female gender, fulminant presentation, anti-nuclear antibodies and lower LVEF were predictors of death or heart transplantation. 24