European Heart Journal 2016 - Ponikowski P et al - First published online: 20 May 2016
"The aim of all the ESC Guidelines is to help health professionals to make decisions in their everyday life based on the best available evidence. We will soon be celebrating the 30th anniversary of clinical trials that for the first time incontrovertibly demonstrated that the miserable outcome of patients with heart failure (HF) can be markedly improved. Since then, in the area of HF management we have witnessed and celebrated numerous highs, which have definitely outnumbered several lows, all of which have allowed us to unravel the pathophysiology of this clinical syndrome, but more importantly has led to better care of our patients. In the year 2016, no one would any longer dispute that, by applying all evidence-based discoveries, HF is now becoming a preventable and treatable disease.
The aim of this document is to provide practical, evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of HF.
