Dear Colleagues,

Over the last decades, heart failure (HF) treatment made considerable strides. In particular, for HF with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF) neuro-hormonal modulation by angiotensin receptor neprylisin inhibitors, beta-blockers and mineralcorticoid receptor antagonists reduce mortality and also induce reverse remodeling and systolic function improvement. More recently, type 2 sodium–glucose cotransporter inhibitors (SGLT2i) have demonstrated extraordinary efficacy in ameliorating prognosis. Of note, this class of drugs was shown to reduce HF hospitalizations not only in patients with HFrEF but also in those with mildly reduced or preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. Although these beneficial effects have been proven, the mechanisms by which SGLT2i are able to improve prognosis have not been fully clarified. 

In addition to the four classes of drugs considered disease-modifying drugs, new molecules (e.g. vericiguat, omecamtiv mecarbil and ferric carboxymaltose) have recently been shown to further reduce hospitalization, thus making therapeutic approaches for HF even more complex. In this scenario, there is the need of better define how tailoring patients’ medical treatment as well as how evaluating therapeutic target and the patients’ response.

Finally, the research continues to study novel drugs for HF treatment, some of which have recently demonstrated to target specific etiological mechanisms such as in hypertrophic cardiomiopathy of cardiac amiloidosis. 

The Special Issue "Drug treatment for heart failure" will collect high-quality original research papers and comprehensive reviews outlining recent evidence in relation to the therapeutic treatment of heart failure. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to: 

● Acute and Chrionic Heart failure
● Myocardial fibrosis/remodeling
● Cardio-renal syndrome and metabolism 
● Cardiomyopathies
● Arrhythmias
● Cardiovascular Imaging 
● Genetics
● Pathophysiological mechanisms
● Biomarkers

Prof. Massimo Iacoviello

Guest Editor