IN MEMORIAM
Richard Bing
Scientist, cardiologist, musician, editor, and novelist
Richard Bing in 1975. IHM/NLM
8 November 2010:
Illustrious Cardiologist
Dr Richard Bing dies, aged 101
Click here to read excerpts of
Dr Lionel Opie’s tribute
(The full text will appear in the forthcoming issue of Dialogues in Cardiovascular Medicine devoted to Aspirin Resistance) |
Dialogues in Cardiovascular Medicine
is part of the continuing education programs
of the International Society for Heart Research,
of the European Society of Cardiology,
and of the Italian Society of Cardiology
This is made possible through
an unrestricted educational grant
from Servier
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This review attempts a catalogue raisonné of the treatment
paradigms developed over the past 20 years that
have substantially reduced the disability, morbidity,
and mortality associated with the syndrome of chronic
heart failure. (...) |
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Elevated heart rate is a risk factor
in chronic heart failure. Heart rate
reduction by means of Β-blocker
therapy is associated with improved
outcomes. However, in real life
conditions, many heart failure patients
remain with increased heart
rate due to suboptimal dosing of
Βblockers because of poor tolerability
and/or physician reluctance
to use these agents. (...) |
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In a substantial minority of patients
with heart failure, the ejection fraction
is normal (“diastolic heart
failure”). The evidence base for
treatment of such patients is less
robust than that for patients with
systolic heart failure, with few large
randomized trials. International
guidelines make few recommendations:
fluid retention should be
controlled with judicious use of diuretics,
ventricular rate in atrial fibrillation
should be controlled (and
consideration given to returning to
sinus rhythm), (...) |
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This paper briefly reviews the current
guideline recommendations
on the use of cardiac resynchronization
therapy (CRT) devices in
heart failure and focuses on the
challenges that need to be addressed.
Two essential issues are
immediately apparent. (...) |
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