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2024 Voxmedia Satellite Symposium Image

Mastering the Dynamics of Worsening HFrEF:
An In-Depth Approach to Effective Management

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Registration:   7:00 PM - 7:15 PM
Symposium:    7:15 PM - 8:45 PM

Venue:
Signia Hilton
Triumph Ballroom G
159 Northside Dr NW
Atlanta, GA

Chair: Javed Butler, MD, MPH, MBA

Faculty: Marie Galvao, MSN, ANP-BC, CHF-N, HF-Cert
               Stephen J. Greene, MD
               Orly Vardeny, PharmD

Registration for this program is now closed.

 
Program Overview:

Episodes of worsening signs and symptoms characterize the clinical course of patients with chronic heart failure. These events are associated with poorer quality of life, increased risk of hospitalization and death, and are a major burden on healthcare resources. The definition of worsening heart failure (WHF) continues to evolve from a historical focus solely on hospitalization to now including non-hospitalization events. Furthermore, evidence demonstrates that outpatient escalation of oral diuretic therapy is not a benign event. Treating worsening heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) includes treating congestion; managing precipitants; and establishing a foundation of rapid-sequence, simultaneous, and/or in- hospital initiation of quadruple guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) for HFrEF, with the top priority being at least low doses of all 4 medications. Many HFrEF patients, however, are not optimized on quadruple therapy for a variety of reasons. Even when optimized on quadruple therapy, patients have significant residual cardiovascular risk. Consequently, additional therapies should be considered among patients with worsening HFrEF to further reduce residual risk of adverse clinical outcomes. Management of patients with WHF is challenging, and guidelines recommend multidisciplinary team management. It is therefore important for the integral roles for team members to be identified. In this educational initiative, to take place at the 2024 Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) Annual Scientific Meeting, experts in WHF will provide attendees with the current definition for WHF; describe its association with poor clinical outcomes; and emphasize the need for prevention of WHF, early diagnosis, and urgent escalation of treatment. Effective treatment strategies will be described, including the evidence for and utilization of additional medical therapies for worsening HFrEF on top of quadruple therapy. A case discussion will illustrate best practices for multidisciplinary care.

Educational Objectives: 

  • Explain the current definition of worsening heart failure (WHF) and its life-threatening consequences)
  • Identify strategies to facilitate a rapid, accurate diagnosis of worsening heart failure)
  • Discuss the evidence illustrating deficiencies in optimizing guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) in individuals with worsening heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF)
  • Describe the efficacy and safety of additional therapies used to manage patients with worsening HFrEF)
  • Recognize the integral roles of multidisciplinary clinicians in managing patients with worsening HFrEF)


    • Target Audience: 
    This educational activity is intended for clinicians who manage patients with heart failure.

    Accreditation & Credit Designation:

    Voxmedia LLC is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

    Voxmedia LLC designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category Credit(s) ™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

    Nurse practitioners may participate in this educational activity and earn a certificate of completion as AANP accepts AMA PRA Category 1.5 Credits ™ through its reciprocity agreements.

    The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME.

    Educational Grant:
    Voxmedia and the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) gratefully acknowledge the educational grant provided by Merck & Co., Inc.

    Disclosure Statement:
    Voxmedia strives to ensure fair-balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all directly or jointly sponsored educational activities. All prospective faculty are required to disclose to Voxmedia all financial relationships for the preceding 24 months (1) with any commercial interest producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients AND (2) with any commercial supporters prior to participating in the planning of an activity or developing content. Only after Voxmedia mitigates all financial relationships may faculty receive approval to participate, and are expected to contribute evidence-based material. Faculty are required to indicate areas of their presentation that are based on professional opinion vs. guidelines, meta-analysis. All information submitted will be peer-reviewed. The intent of this disclosure is not to prevent faculty from participating, but rather to provide learners with information on which they can make their own judgment of commercial bias. Voxmedia will disclose to learners that all relevant financial relationships have been mitigated in either written materials, visually and/or verbally. It remains for the audience to determine whether the speaker s interests or relationships may influence the presentation. Speakers must make a meaningful disclosure to the audience of their discussions of any unlabeled or investigational use(s) of drugs or devices.