Coronavirus 2019 Disease (COVID‐19), Systemic Inflammation, and Cardiovascular Disease

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The Role of Congestion Biomarkers in Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction

: In heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, edema and congestion are related to reduced cardiac function. Edema and congestion are further aggravated by chronic kidney failure and pulmonary abnormalities. Furthermore, together with edema/congestion, sodium/water retention is an important sign of the progression of heart failure. Edema/congestion often anticipates clinical symptoms, such as dyspnea and hospitalization; it is associated with a reduced quality of life and a major risk of mortality. It is very important for clinicians to predict the signs of congestion with biomarkers and, mainly, to understand the pathophysiological findings that underlie edema. Not all congestions are secondary to heart failure, as in nephrotic syndrome. This review summarizes the principal evidence on the possible roles of the old and new congestion biomarkers in HFrEF patients (diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic roles). Furthermore, we provide a description of conditions other than congestion with increased congestion biomarkers, in order to aid in reaching a differential diagnosis. To conclude, the review focuses on how congestion biomarkers may be affected by new HF drugs (gliflozins, vericiguat, etc.) approved for HFrEF

Novelties in the pharmacological approaches for chronic heart failure: new drugs and cardiovascular targets

Despite recent advances in chronic heart failure (HF) management, the prognosis of HF patients is poor. This highlights the need for researching new drugs targeting, beyond neurohumoral and hemodynamic modulation approach, such as cardiomyocyte metabolism, myocardial interstitium, intracellular regulation and NO-sGC pathway. In this review we report main novelties on new possible pharmacological targets for HF therapy, mainly on new drugs acting on cardiac metabolism, GCs-cGMP pathway, mitochondrial function and intracellular calcium dysregulation

Coronavirus 2019 Disease (COVID‐19), Systemic Inflammation, and Cardiovascular Disease

Acute respiratory failure associated with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), has rapidly spread worldwide and presents critical challenges for the public health and medical communities. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared SARS‐CoV‐2 a public health emergency of international concern, with a global estimate of over 7 million human infections and more than 400000 deaths worldwide as of June 12, 2020. A 2020 report by the China Medical Treatment Expert Group for Coronavirus disease 2010 (COVID‐19) (2) showed that the clinical spectrum of the viral infection is dominated by fever (up to 88.7% of patients during hospitalization) and cough (67.8% of patients) followed by symptoms such as headache, fatigue, or shortness of breath