PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
ED  - Wilke, William S.
AU  - James Young
TI  - Heart failure: Highlights from new consensus guidelines
DP  - 2000 Jan 01
TA  - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
PG  - 13--14
VI  - 67
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/67/1/13.short
4100  - http://www.ccjm.org/content/67/1/13.full
SO  - Cleve Clin J Med2000 Jan 01; 67
AB  - New guidelines for managing heart failure urge physicians to identify patients likely to benefit from therapy, obtain an echocardiogram to measure the ejection fraction, and, in patients with systolic dysfunction (ie, an ejection fraction ≤ 40%), institute therapy with an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and a beta-blocker if at all possible. Digoxin and diuretics can relieve symptoms but do not affect the mortality rate. Spironolactone in low nondiuretic doses may reduce mortality when added to baseline drug regimens. The proper role of angiotensin II receptor blocking agents has yet to be determined.