Update on heart failure, heart transplant, congenital heart disease, and clinical cardiology.
In the year 2012, 3 scientific sections-heart failure and transplant, congenital heart disease, and clinical cardiology-are presented together in the same article. The most relevant development in the area of heart failure and transplantation is the 2012 publication of the European guidelines for heart failure. These describe new possibilities for some drugs (eplerenone and ivabradine); expand the criteria for resynchronization, ventricular assist, and peritoneal dialysis; and cover possibilities of percutaneous repair of the mitral valve (MitraClip(®)). The survival of children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome in congenital heart diseases has improved significantly. Instructions for percutaneous techniques and devices have been revised and modified for the treatment of atrial septal defects, ostium secundum, and ventricular septal defects. Hybrid procedures for addressing structural congenital heart defects have become more widespread. In the area of clinical cardiology studies have demonstrated that percutaneous prosthesis implantation has lower mortality than surgical implantation. Use of the CHA2DS2-VASc criteria and of new anticoagulants (dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban) is also recommended. In addition, the development of new sequencing techniques has enabled the analysis of multiple genes.
Unidad de Insuficiencia Cardiaca y Trasplante, Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, Spain. Electronic address: lualmenar@gmail.com.
Luis
L
Almenar
Servicio Materno-Infantil, Hospital Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
José Luis
JL
Zunzunegui
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain.
Gonzalo
G
Barón
Servicio de Cardiología Pediátrica, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico la Fe, Valencia, Spain.
José Ignacio
JI
Carrasco
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, Spain.
Juan José
JJ
Gómez-Doblas
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
Josep
J
Comín
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
Vivencio
V
Barrios
Unidad Integrada de Cardiopatías Congénitas del Adolescente y Adulto Vall d'Hebrón-Sant Pau, Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital de la Sta. Creu i Sant Pau, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
M Teresa
MT
Subirana
Unidad de Insuficiencia Cardiaca Avanzada y Trasplante Cardiaco del Área del Corazón, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain.
Beatriz
B
Díaz-Molina
D002309:Cardiology / Q000639:trends*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000628:therapy*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000628:therapy*; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans