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Telemonitoring in heart failure: Big Brother watching over you

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Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of hospitalisations in older people. Several strategies, supported by novel technologies, are now available to monitor patients’ health from a distance. Although studies have suggested that remote monitoring may reduce HF hospitalisations and mortality, the study of different patient populations, the use of different monitoring technologies and the use of different endpoints limit the generalisability of the results of the clinical trials reported, so far. In this review, we discuss the existing home monitoring modalities, relevant trials and focus on future directions for telemonitoring.

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Acknowledgments

Prof. Cleland is supported, in part, by the NIHR cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London.

Conflict of interest

Departmental research support has been received from Philips.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Hull York Medical School, Hull and East Yorkshire Medical Research and Teaching Centre, Castle Hill Hospital, Cottingham, Kingston upon Hull, HU16 5JQ, UK

    R. Dierckx, P. Pellicori & A. L. Clark

  2. National Heart and Lung Institute, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, Imperial College, London, UK

    J. G. F. Cleland

Authors
  1. R. Dierckx
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  2. P. Pellicori
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  3. J. G. F. Cleland
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  4. A. L. Clark
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Correspondence to R. Dierckx.

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Dierckx, R., Pellicori, P., Cleland, J.G.F. et al. Telemonitoring in heart failure: Big Brother watching over you. Heart Fail Rev 20, 107–116 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10741-014-9449-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10741-014-9449-4

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