This is an updated guideline on heart failure from NICE published in September 2018. Most of this is what we are currently doing. They have pulled several different guidelines together to make this more comprehensive. There are a few new things which I’ll lay out, then I’ll give a brief summary of management:
Terminology
They now refer to ‘Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction’ (ie LVSD) and ‘Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction’ (diastolic dysfunction).
Multidisciplinary team MDT
They formally lay out the need for an MDT to diagnose heart failure, manage it, optimise medication and start specialist only medications. The MDT should be able to refer onto other relevant teams (eg rehab, elderly care or palliative care). They should also lay out the care plan for the patient.
