A study published by Heart found that loneliness and social isolation are linked to a 30 percent increased risk of having a stroke or developing coronary artery disease, the two leading causes of death for men and women.

Vericel Corp. announced on March 10 that its experimental drug to treat advanced heart failure due to ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy met the primary endpoint in a phase 2b clinical trial.

Patients with chronic heart failure and high scores on a global self-care scale had similar rates of long-term, all-cause mortality compared with those with low scores, according to a secondary analysis from two observational prospective studies. 

A model-based study found that patients with chronic heart failure who used the CardioMEMS device had reductions in hospitalizations and increases in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and costs.

Novartis has entered into a pay-for-performance agreement with Cigna to cover sacubitril/valsartan (Entresto), a twice-daily oral medication to treat patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. Aetna also signed a value-based agreement with Novartis based on the drug having similar results as shown in clinical trials, according to a Reuters report.

After a 20-week regimen that included an improved diet and/or an increased exercise regiment, obese, older adults with heart failure had an increase in exercise capacity, according to a randomized trial conducted at an urban academic medical center. However, the regimen did not have a significant effect on quality of life.

After declining for more than a decade, the age-adjusted rate for heart failure-related deaths increased from 2012 to 2014, according to a recent data brief from the National Center for Health Statistics.

A model developed to predict 30-day readmissions for heart failure found that having patients self-report their socioeconomic, health status and psychosocial characteristics did not improve the researchers’ ability to determine the readmissions risk.