Congestion Is the Driving Force Behind Heart Failure

What Physicians Need to Know About Renal Function in Outpatients with Heart Failure

The majority of outpatients with heart failure (HF) have chronic kidney disease (CKD) as an important comorbidity. Both glomerular filtration rate and abnormal urinary albumin excretion are major predictors of outcome in HF patients. Despite this, patients with renal dysfunction have been systematically excluded from the large randomized HF trials. There is lack of evidence for optimal treatment in these cardiorenal patients and treatment nihilism may account in part for their bad prognosis. Identifying and monitoring the progression of renal disease and making an effort to preserve renal function should be an important task in the management of all patients with HF. In this review, the current understanding of the pathophysiology of renal dysfunction in outpatients with HF will be summarized. Furthermore, important principles of the identification and management of cardiorenal patients will be described in order to make the physician more capable of managing outpatients with HF and renal dysfunction.

The cardiorenal syndrome: what the cardiologist needs to know

Interactions between the heart and the kidneys are increasingly acknowledged among both cardiologists and nephrologists. The term cardiorenal syndrome now applies to the bidirectional nature of how disease in one organ system affects the function of the other organ system. Cardiovascular disease is a major threat to patients with chronic kidney disease, while renal dysfunction is prevalent in patients with cardiac disease and is a significant predictor of prognosis in cardiac patients. Still, renal patients with cardiac disease have largely been excluded from the clinical trials that have been the basis of modern cardiologic treatment. In this review, the current understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in the cardiorenal syndrome and potential therapeutic implications will be summarized from a nephrologist's point of view. Probably, fragile cardiorenal patients will benefit from an enhanced collaboration between cardiologists and nephrologists to secure the best treatment given under safe conditions.