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Frailty and prognosis in advanced heart failure
Rebecca S Boxer1, Khanjan B Shah, Anne M Kenny
1aHarrington Heart and Vascular Institute, University Hospitals Case Medical Center bInternal Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio cProfessor of Medicine, Center on Aging, University of Connecticut, Farmington, Connecticut, USA.
Purpose Of Review:
The frailty syndrome is characterized by an increased vulnerability to physiologic stress. Frailty is distinct from disability and disease states; however, there is a strong relationship between frailty and heart failure and the pathophysiology's overlap. Heart failure exacerbations and hospitalizations likely accelerate the cycle of frailty. The following review summarizes the relationship between heart failure and frailty, and the utility of a frailty assessment in heart failure management.
Recent Findings:
A frailty assessment can help to stratify heart failure patients at high risk for adverse outcomes. Increasing availability of device therapies for patients with heart failure make prerisk assessment an important management strategy.
Summary:
Furthermore, studies are necessary to understand the relationship between heart failure and frailty and to devise the best care strategies for these patients.
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