title: Organ protection possibilities in acute heart failure.
abstract: Unlike chronic heart failure (HF), the treatment for acute HF has not changed over the last decade. The drugs employed have shown their ability to control symptoms but have not achieved organ protection or managed to reduce medium to long-term morbidity and mortality. Advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of acute HF suggest that treatment should be directed not only towards correcting the haemodynamic disorders and achieving symptomatic relief but also towards preventing organ damage, thereby counteracting myocardial remodelling and cardiac and extracardiac disorders. Compounds that exert vasodilatory and anti-inflammatory action in the acute phase of HF and can stop cell death, thereby boosting repair mechanisms, could have an essential role in organ protection.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC)/Hospital Reina Sofía, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, España. Electronic address: fm1mopem@uco.es.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montero-Pérez-Barquero
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Insuficiencia Cardiaca, Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Arnau de Vilanova, Región Sanitaria de Lleida, Lleida, España.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Morales-Rull
keywords: Acute heart failure; Cardiac preservation; Daño orgánico; Insuficiencia cardiaca aguda; Organ damage; Organoprotección