A roadmap to inpatient heart failure management

Heart failure (HF) accounts for over 1 million primary hospitalizations in the USA each year and carries a tremendous burden on costs and patient outcomes. The clinical syndrome of HF is not a single disease, but represents the complex interplay between various cardiac and non-cardiac processes, each of which need to be individually addressed. This review provides an updated, contemporary roadmap for inpatient worsening chronic HF management with a focus on identifying and addressing initiating mechanisms, amplifying factors, and cardiac structural abnormalities. Inpatient risk stratification should guide patient education, team structuring, disposition, and post-discharge monitoring.