The treatment of heart failure--what next?

1. Despite demonstrable benefits in terms of symptomatic relief and improvement in prognosis, even the best treatments of heart failure currently available fall short of being ideal. We review the basis for newer approaches to the treatment of heart failure and discuss some of the agents which capitalize on current understanding of the underlying patho-physiology. 2. Several drugs, old and new, are presently being investigated by major clinical trials. We also consider some of the difficulties related to the design and conduct of such trials and suggest how drugs might be better assessed in the future.