Heart failure is the second leading cause of hospitalization of Canadians over 65 and responsible for nine per cent of all deaths
MONTREAL, May 29, 2014 /CNW/ - Canada's leading cardiologists and other health professionals interested in heart failure are meeting in Montreal this weekend at the Heart Failure Update 2014 meeting to examine the newest developments in heart failure, a condition responsible for nine per cent of all deaths in Canada.i The burden of heart failure is expected to continue to increase with Canada's aging population and will bring additional challenges to an already strained healthcare system.
This year's Heart Failure Update meeting will address heart failure care across Canada and examine optimal patient management strategies. Heart failure is currently the second leading cause of hospitalization in patients over 65 years of age.ii These patients generally stay longer in hospital than other patients and the 30-day hospital readmission rate for Canadian heart failure patients is 21%, creating an additional burden.iii
"One of every five Canadians will develop this condition during their lifetime. Right now, heart failure poses a huge health care burden and as our population ages, we estimate this burden will double over the next 30 years. So, we have to find ways to improve heart failure care across Canada," said Dr. Jonathan Howlett, President of the Canadian Heart Failure Society, one of the organizers of the event, and Director of Heart Failure at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta in Calgary. "We need to pay closer attention to how heart failure is detected and managed, and to develop more effective ways to coordinate care for this very complex disease.
Sessions like this are critical and enable us to come learn and work together on the latest developments and new strategies. This will ultimately help us to prevent heart failure and to better take care of those of us who have it."
A recent study estimated that there are close to 600,000 Canadians living with heart failure .iv It is a complex disorder resulting in the heart not being able to pump sufficient blood to meet the body's demands. It reduces patient quality of life and exercise tolerance by causing them to have shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling of legs and cognitive impairment, among other symptoms.v
"As physicians, our goal is to find ways to help our patients feel better, live longer and avoid hospitalization. What we'll be doing at this meeting is reviewing the way heart failure is currently managed and assessing ways that might further benefit patients in the future," said G. B. John Mancini, MD, FRCPC, FACC, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of British Columbia. "We're not certain what is next for heart failure therapy but we know that the disease continues to impart a large health burden and that care gaps exist."
Heart Failure Update 2014
Heart Failure Update 2014 is being held May 29-31 at the InterContinental Hotel in Montreal with the theme, "The Art and Science of Heart Failure Treatment." It is being hosted by the Canadian Heart Failure Society (CHFS) in cooperation with the Quebec Heart Failure Society, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the Association of Quebec Cardiologists. Two separate symposia connected to the meeting will discuss "Mechanisms of systolic heart failure and their treatment: current and emerging options" and "Current and emerging therapies for heart failure patients with mitral regurgitation." www.hfupdate.ca
The Canadian Heart Failure Society
The Canadian Heart Failure Society (CHFS), an affiliate of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, was founded in 2011 to promote education and research by Canadian health professionals in heart failure and to administer and update Canadian treatment guidelines for heart failure.
i Canadian Heart Failure Network, Rationale for HF Clinics – The Problem: HF, accessed at: http://www.chfn.ca/clinic-resource-manual/rationale-for-hf-clinics citing Brophy JM. Epidemiology of congestive heart failure: Canadian data from 1970 to 1989. Can J Cardiol 1992;8:495-498.
ii Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), A Snapshot of Health in Canada as Demonstrated by Top 10 Lists, 2011, p. 10, accessed at: https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/Top10ReportEN-Web.pdf.
iii Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), All-Cause Readmission to Acute Care and Return to the Emergency Department, 2012, p. 8, accessed at: https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/Readmission_to_acutecare_en.pdf
iv Blais C, et al. Assessing the burden of hospitalized and community-care heart failure in Canada. Can J Cardiol. 2014 Mar; 30(3):352-8.
v Cardiac Care Network of Ontario, Strategy for Community Management of Heart Failure in Ontario, February 2014, p. 13, accessed at: http://www.ccn.on.ca/ccn_public/uploadfiles/files/Strategy_for_Community_Mgmt_in_HF_in_ON.pdf
SOURCE: Canadian Heart Failure Society
Jean Kanan, Spectrum Advisors, [email protected], Tel: 514-234-4095
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