Non Invasive Assessment of Heart Failure

Brief Summary

Detailed Description

Heart failure (HF) is a growing epidemic related to significant morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of the disease continuously increases due to the ageing population and success in treating cardiovascular diseases that often precede HF. Lifetime risk of HF is still high with 20-45% and strongly age-dependent . Structural or functional alterations in the heart lead to reduced cardiac output and rising intracardiac pressures. The resulting HF syndrome comprises typical symptoms such as dyspnoea, ankle swelling and fatigue . Heart failure is classified into right sided heart failure and left sided heart failure,the later one is classified to HF with reduced EF (HFrEF) involving patients with an EF\< 40% and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) The proportion of HFpEF seems to be slightly lower than that of HFrEF . For patients presenting with breathlessness, there is a need for a reliable biomarker for the early diagnosis of heart failure. Similarly, there is also a need for better monitoring of patients receiving treatment for heart failure. Non-invasive means such as a biomarker have therefore become useful. There are many potential biomarkers for heart failure, the investigators will discuss the biomarkers that are available for clinical use in patients with heart failure to further assess prognosis and possibly direct HF therapy. There is evidence that aldosterone antagonists can oppose the effect of aldosterone in promoting cardiac fibrosis.Furthermore, elevated levels of cardiac aldosterone have been demonstrated in a rat model of hypertensive diastolic HF, and use of the aldosterone antagonist, eplerenone, was associated with attenuation of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and reduction in left ventricular mass and fibrosis in this model.Thus, aldosterone antagonism has the potential to be a beneficial therapeutic strategy in patients with HFpEF. Vitamin D has the potential to improve the symptoms ofheart failure (HF) and to modulate the disease,Vitamin D supplementation can reduce blood pressure and improve skeletal muscle function and strength. Animal studies suggest that active vitamin D down-regulates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), reduces retention of salt and water, and reduces myocardial hypertrophy.

Primary Outcomes