Integrated evaluation of biomarkers, echocardiography, and pulmonary ultrasound is important for the early diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of hemodynamic congestion in heart failure patients.
Does integrated evaluation of biomarkers and imaging techniques improve the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of congestion in heart failure patients?
Integrated evaluation of biomarkers and imaging techniques like echocardiography and pulmonary ultrasound is important for diagnosing and managing hemodynamic congestion in heart failure before symptoms worsen.
Worsening chronic heart failure (HF) is responsible for recurrent hospitalization and increased mortality risk after discharge, irrespective to the ejection fraction. Symptoms and signs of pulmonary and systemic congestion are the most common cause for hospitalization of acute decompensated HF, as a consequence of increased cardiac filling pressures. The elevated cardiac filling pressures, also called hemodynamic congestion, may precede the occurrence of clinical congestion by days or weeks. Since HF patients often have comorbidities, dyspnoea, the main symptom of HF, may be also caused by respiratory or other illnesses. Recent studies underline the importance of the diagnosis and treatment of hemodynamic congestion before HF symptoms worsen, reducing hospitalization and improving prognosis. In this paper we review the role of integrated evaluation of biomarkers and imaging technics, i.e., echocardiography and pulmonary ultrasound, for the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of congestion in HF patients.
Ilieșiu et al. (Tue,) conducted a review in Heart Failure. Integrated evaluation of biomarkers and imaging technics (echocardiography and pulmonary ultrasound) was evaluated. Integrated evaluation of biomarkers, echocardiography, and pulmonary ultrasound is important for the early diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of hemodynamic congestion in heart failure patients.