Editorial for “Heart Failure Update and Advances in 2021”
This series of Annals of Translational Medicine introduces a collection of review articles on the full spectrum of heart failure (HF), given the tremendous growth that the field has experienced over the recent years. The crucial role of guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT) instituted at the primary care level is along with the role of advanced therapies for refractory cases, as both are interconnected and are two poles of a continuum.
Starting with the basic concepts and management in the care of HF patients, Espinoza et al. present a detailed update on the rationale of established HF pharmacotherapies, emerging agents such as vericiguat or sodium-glucose transport protein and the role of precision medicine in HF management. Expanding specifically into the latest addition in the treatment arsenal for HF with reduced ejection fraction, Cruz et al. delve deep into the pharmacology and current position of angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors, not only for HF but also in other cardiovascular diseases. Suri & Pamboukian present a comprehensive review of renal physiology, diuretic pharmacology and the best evidence-based strategies to achieve euvolemia in patients with HF.
Paz et al. explain the current understanding of HF with preserved ejection fraction and walk us through the existing evidence behind the pharmacotherapies that have promise or that have proven ineffective in management of this challenging population. In a specific HF with preserved ejection fraction population, Cruz & Tallaj describe the advances in pharmacotherapy for transthyretin cardiac amyloid, a disease that remains greatly underdiagnosed in the community.
Given the growth in advanced HF mechanical therapies, particularly durable left ventricular assist devices (LVAD), we included two topics regarding the pharmacologic therapy of patients on LVAD support. Loyaga-Rendon et al. describe in detail the rationale of antiplatelet and anticoagulation strategies, as well as their management during the highly prevalent thrombotic and hemorrhagic complications in LVAD therapy. Pirlamarla et al. present the pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension in patients with HF, and the evidence behind the use of pulmonary vasodilators in patients with LVAD support.
We believe that the articles on these variety of topics will assist clinicians in the care of HF patients across the spectrum. The editors are sincerely thankful for the excellent contributions of all authors in the series. We hope you enjoy the interesting, updated reviews included in the series, and let them translate to improved patient care. We are certain the series will provide new insights and motivate further research in the topic.
Acknowledgments
Funding: None.
Footnote
Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Annals of Translational Medicine for the series “Heart Failure Update and Advances in 2021”. The article did not undergo external peer review.
Conflicts of Interest: Both authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm-2020-hf-09). The series “Heart Failure Update and Advances in 2021” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. JBCR served as the unpaid Guest Editor of the series. DM served as the unpaid Guest Editor of the series and serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Annals of Translational Medicine from Mar 2020 to Feb 2022. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.
Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
