About this trial
This study seeks to investigate the clinical value of novel echocardiographic indices, including myocardial work parameters, during the acute phase of heart failure hospitalization. The trajectory of novel echocardiographic indices from the start to the end of hospitalization will be captured, as a means to unravel and subsequently better understand the diverse pathophysiology of different phenotypes of the heart failure continuum. Correlation between novel echocardiographic indices with clinical data, biochemical data, different heart failure phenotypes, and therapeutic maneuvers will be attempted. Prognostic implications of those indices will be explored.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Patients acutely admitted at the Department of Cardiology of AHEPA University General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece with symptoms and/or signs of heart failure (HF), as those are defined by the European Society of Cardiology.
Patients with abnormal plasma concentration of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, measured within 24 hours from admission
Objective echocardiographic evidence of cardiac structural and/or functional abnormalities consistent with the presence of left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction/diastolic dysfunction/raised LV filling pressures upon admission assessment
Disqualifiers
Symptoms and/or signs of HF secondary to congenital heart disease, infective endocarditis, pericardial disease, and history of recent cardiac surgery (<1 month)
Patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis
Patients with active malignancy and/or life expectancy < 1 year
Poor echocardiographic acoustic windows precluding reliable assessment and/or analysis
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Investigation of clinical profile, laboratory and novel echocardiographic imaging biomarkers