Diagnosis and Risk Stratification of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes

The evaluation and management of emergency department patients with potential acute heart failure syndrome have remained a significant challenge for decades. Dramatically, unlike advances for the assessment and treatment of patients with acute coronary syndrome, the emergency physician’s diagnostic tools for heart failure have remained limited. The complexity and morbidity of this syndrome alone has led to risk aversion and extremely high admission rates. These difficulties, as well as the increasing prevalence and incidence of heart failure due to improved treatment of ACS and our aging population, has placed an enormous burden on healthcare resources worldwide.