D J Whellan

..In conclusion, device-derived HF diagnostic criteria evaluated 7 days after discharge identified patients at significantly greater risk of a HF event within 30 days after discharge...

..Little is known regarding utilization of hospice care in a contemporary cohort of patients hospitalized with HF and how this may vary by estimated mortality risk...

..A number of patients have implantable devices that might provide data to assist in determining readiness for discharge...

..Although there are limited clinical data to support the use of exercise training as a means to reduce mortality and morbidity in patients with heart failure, current guidelines state that exercise is beneficial...

..The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of DM programs in reducing hospitalization and mortality in patients with HF on the basis of the results of existing trials...

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..Inpatient care is the primary driver of costs for patients with heart failure. It is unclear whether recent advances in heart failure care have reduced the costs to Medicare for the care of inpatients with heart failure...

..We sought to determine the utility of combined heart failure (HF) device diagnostic information to predict clinical deterioration of HF in patients with systolic left ventricular dysfunction...

..This study was undertaken to identify predictors of hospital length of stay (LOS) for heart failure (HF) patients using clinical variables available at the time of admission and hospital characteristics...

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..These issues will be important to understand when evaluating future clinical trial results and developing new studies, particularly in other HF patient cohorts such as HF with preserved left ventricular function...

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..This post hoc analysis of the HF-ACTION cohort explores the primary and secondary results of the HF-ACTION study by etiology and severity of illness...

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..The multidisciplinary approach to managing heart failure has been shown to improve outcomes. The role of a clinical pharmacist in treating heart failure has not been evaluated...

..We assessed the economic effects of beta-blocker therapy from various perspectives: societal, Medicare, hospital, physician, and patient...

..e., public), or private for-profit hospitals...

..However, there are few data regarding the costs of HF with normal EF. In a prospective, population-based cohort of elderly participants, we compared the costs and resource use of patients with HF and normal and reduced EF...

..The objective of this study was to develop a model to assist clinicians in determining the likelihood of CAD before cardiac catheterization...

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..The relationship between the number of sessions attended and long-term outcomes is unknown...

..The concept of a translational medicine center may be useful for many departments of academic medical centers...

..The purpose of this study was to evaluate mortality and readmission rates of heart failure (HF) patients after major noncardiac surgery...

..Nesiritide is approved in the United States for early relief of dyspnea in patients with acute heart failure. Previous meta-analyses have raised questions regarding renal toxicity and the mortality associated with this agent...

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..This article addresses the Heart Failure and A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise TraiNing (HF-ACTION) gated SPECT imaging (gSPECT) substudy baseline results...

..The assessment of viable myocardium by nuclear imaging studies has shown promise in predicting improvements in ejection fraction and symptoms. However, the relationship of viability to long-term mortality has not been fully established...

..All of these differences must be incorporated into proper outcomes examinations. We sought to identify the nuclear perfusion imaging referral pattern for patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and significant CAD...

..Guidelines recommend that exercise training be considered for medically stable outpatients with heart failure. Previous studies have not had adequate statistical power to measure the effects of exercise training on clinical outcomes...

..However, there is a need for further large-scale investigations that incorporate standard methodologies and diagnostic criteria, which have been lacking in past trials...

..To examine whether the volume-mortality relationship in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) differs by race and operative risk...

..Using baseline data from the HF-ACTION (Heart Failure and A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise TraiNing) study, we examined this relationship...

..It remains unproven whether exercise training improves survival...

..To determine the effect of adult cardiac transplant center practice patterns within a single organ procurement organization on access to donors and survival for patients listed as United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) status 1...

..We examined associations between patient-reported measures of health-related quality of life and clinical indicators of disease severity in a large, heterogeneous sample of patients with heart failure...

..At 1 year, transmyocardial laser revascularization produced a significant improvement in angina class (p <0.0001) but no improvement in survival (p = 0.75)...

..To examine the relationship between N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and exercise capacity in a large contemporary cohort of patients with chronic heart failure...

..In a prospective, longitudinal cohort of community-dwelling elderly from 4 regions, we examined the long-term costs and resource use of elderly patients with HF...

..Findings from previous studies of the effects of exercise training on patient-reported health status have been inconsistent...

..Priority pursuit of these consensus-based directions should facilitate both safer drugs and accelerated access to new drugs, as concomitant public health benefits...

..Further studies are needed to examine the impact of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions on costs and resource use in elderly individuals with HF...

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..Baseline angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor plus beta-blocker use were associated with lower levels of CRP; no relation was found between CRP levels and aspirin or statin use...

..Depression is 4 to 5 times as common in heart failure (HF) patients as in the general population, might confer a higher risk of developing HF, and negatively affects prognosis in established HF...

..Hospices provide end-of-life care for heart failure (HF) patients, but hospice is underused for these patients, and its use has not been well described...

..Therefore, in multicenter trials, there is no need to perform >1 baseline cardiopulmonary exercise test...

..We aimed to describe the intensity of outpatient HF care (clinic visits and telephone calls) and medical and nonpharmacological interventions in the outpatient setting...