Here are four things to know from the review:
- Interventional heart failure training originally encompassed interventional cardiology and advanced heart failure. The subspeciality now includes cardiogenic shock, transcatheter valve therapies, relief of increased left atrial pressures, and coronary intervention in low ejection fraction and after heart transplant, the study said, though no formal pathways to this training exist.
- The three current areas of focus during interventional heart failure training are: advanced heart failure with an invasive focus, interventional heart failure with a cardiogenic shock focus and structural heart failure.
- Currently, trainees are required to complete two independent fellowships, one in interventional cardiology and one in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology, after completion of a three-year cardiovascular disease fellowship.
These fellowships are “completed in tandem, in varying order, and with no crosstalk between the programs,” authors of the review wrote. “As a result, there is no unified curriculum for the IHF specialist.”
- In the review, the authors suggest five more specific and comprehensive areas of focus: cardiogenic shock and cardiorenal syndrome, pulmonary hypertension and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, percutaneous coronary intervention in low ejection fraction and for cardiac allograft vasculopathy, valvular regurgitation and left ventricular remodeling, percutaneous options for LVAD complications, and critical care.
The authors propose for these areas of focus to be integrated into advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology training programs “to enhance the value derived from the training year.”
Read the full study, including considerations, challenges and research opportunities associated with interventional heart failure training, here.
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