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The Current and Potential Clinical Relevance of Heart Failure Biomarkers

  • Biomarkers of Heart Failure (W.H.W. Tang, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Heart failure is a growing epidemic, and our understanding of the intricacies of its pathophysiology continues to evolve. Over the last decade, biomarkers of heart failure have been extensively investigated, particularly for diagnosis and risk stratification. While the natriuretic peptides remain the gold standard heart failure biomarker, they are plagued by their non-specific nature; furthermore, the strategy of natriuretic peptide-guided care remains elusive. Multiple candidate markers indicative of other physiologic aspects of heart failure have been identified and studied, including soluble ST2, galectin-3, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponins. Each of these biomarkers has the potential to provide unique therapeutically relevant information. Ultimately, a multi-marker approach may be applied to improve care of patients with heart failure. Definitive clinical trials and the use of advanced statistical analytic techniques are needed to truly determine the optimal strategy of biomarker-assisted diagnosis, prognostication, and management of patients who suffer from this devastating condition.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Parul U. Gandhi and Dr. Jeffrey M. Testani have no disclosures. Dr. Tariq Ahmad has served as a consultant for Roche Diagnostics.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, VA Connecticut, West Haven, CT, USA

    Parul U. Gandhi

  2. Department of Internal Medicine and Program of Applied Translational Research, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Jeffrey M. Testani

  3. Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Parul U. Gandhi, Jeffrey M. Testani & Tariq Ahmad

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  1. Parul U. Gandhi
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  2. Jeffrey M. Testani
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  3. Tariq Ahmad
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Correspondence to Tariq Ahmad.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Biomarkers of Heart Failure

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Gandhi, P.U., Testani, J.M. & Ahmad, T. The Current and Potential Clinical Relevance of Heart Failure Biomarkers. Curr Heart Fail Rep 12, 318–327 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11897-015-0268-2

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