The Slides/Recordings of this course are available to the course participants & HFA members. Please click on a session below and sign in to access the content.

This second edition of the HFA Advanced Heart Failure course directed by Prof. Finn Gustafsson took place on 22 - 23 February 2024 in Vienna, Austria.

It covered identification, initial management, referral criteria and final treatment in advanced HF care centres with heart transplantation and ventricular assist devices.

Lectures, case discussions and hands-on teaching were applied by an international panel of experts reaching out to the wider heart team: involving cardiologists and heart failure specialists and enlarging to cardiac surgeons, intensivists, and ventricular assist device coordinators.

Testimonial

Do you want to learn about the cardiac surgeon's perspective inspired by the X-Files, the Rule of Three for timely referral of advanced heart failure patients, or the 8 Rights in Heart Failure?

Come to Vienna! This course offers a valuable opportunity not only to learn how to diagnose and treat patients with advanced heart failure, mechanical circulatory support or after heart transplantation but also a possibility to improve your practical skills.

As a participant in the 2023 course, I had a chance to implant the system for remote monitoring of pulmonary artery pressure and interpret the haemodynamic status in different clinical scenarios. Most importantly, the course is a combination of theoretical knowledge with hands-on experience, facilitated by the expertise of esteemed Faculty. Furthermore, it also allows exchange of experiences between participants in the field where there are still many unknowns.

To know more, we invite you to listen our podcast with the Course Director, Professor F. Gustafsson from Copenhagen (Denmark), which was recorded last year and gives a perfect introduction to the HFA Advanced Heart Failure Course.

You can also listen to other podcasts offered by HFA Young here.

Finally, before heading to Vienna, consider reading the latest interesting articles in the field:

Aspirin and Hemocompatibility Events With a Left Ventricular Assist Device in Advanced Heart FailureThe ARIES-HM3 Randomized Clinical Trial. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2023.23204

Physicians managing patients with left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients forced by hemocompatibility related complications frequently ask about the possibility of omitting aspirin from their antithrombotic regimen including also vitamin K antagonist (VKA)? The international, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled ARIES HM3 Clinical Trial addressed this query. Its composite primary endpoint was survival free of major nonsurgical hemocompatibility-related adverse events. The results of the study were presented by professor Mandeep Mehra at AHA 2023, who showed that more patients were alive and free of hemocompatibility events at 12 months in the placebo group (74%) vs those taking aspirin (68%). Furthermore, avoiding aspirin decreased the nonsurgical bleeding events, without an increase in thromboembolic complications. In summary, the study suggests that aspirin may not be necessary as part of the antithrombotic regimen for LVAD patients when a VKA is included. 

State of the art review: Acute heart failure: current pharmacological treatment and perspectives. DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad617

One of the topics covered in the HFA Advanced Heart Failure course is acute heart failure (AHF), AHF is a heterogeneous syndrome and has a different clinical presentation dynamic and course. The review, published in category Editor's Choice, shows the wide spectrum of AHF matter. It encompasses various aspects, starting from the initial management of AHF, emphasizing the importance of prompt identification and diagnosis, followed by decongestive therapies. Additionally, it emphasizes the rapid implementation of guideline-directed medical therapies, addresses the post-discharge phase, and explores potential future directions in AHF management.

Warmest regards

Doctor Mateusz Sokolski, HFA Young Committee member

Contact us

For any further assistance please contact us at seminars@escardio.org