title: Management of chronic heart failure: Role of home echocardiography in monitoring care programs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify a possible role of home echocardiography for monitoring chronic heart failure (CHF) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We prospectively investigated 118 patients hospitalized during the last year for CHF who could not easily reach the pertaining District Healthcare Center. The patients were followed up with 2 home management programs: one including clinical and electrocardiographic evaluations and also periodic home echocardiographic examinations (group A), the other including clinical and electrocardiographic evaluations only (group B).
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the end of the 18-mo follow-up no signi-ficant differences were observed between the 2 groups as regards the primary endpoint: rehospitalization occurred in 4 patients of the group A and in 6 patients of the group B; major cardiovascular events occurred in 2 and in 3 patients, respectively. No significant differences were observed with respect to the secondary endpoints: one vascular event appeared in both the groups, 3 cardiovascular deaths occurred in group A and 2 in group B. No significant differences were observed between the 2 groups as regards the composite endpoint of death plus hospitalization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Home echocardiography for monitoring of CHF patients does not improve the cardiovascular endpoints. In our CHF patients, a low incidence of vascular events was observed.
authors.affiliation: Silvia Soreca, Sergio Aprile, Andrea Cardone, Giovanni Carella, Biagio Fimiani, Franco Guarnaccia, Giosuè Santoro, Giovanni Zito, Associazioni Regionali Cardiologi Ambulatoriali, Campania, Via M. Testa 8, 84127 Salerno, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soreca
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aprile
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cardone
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carella
authors.forename: Biagio
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fimiani
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guarnaccia
authors.forename: Giosuè
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Apuzzi
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bosso
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valvano
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zito
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Oliviero