Pharmacotherapy of chronic heart failure: current status and future aspects

Chronic heart failure is among the main causes of death in Western countries. Despite state of the art treatments, including angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blockers and spironolactone, survival and relief from symptoms are still unacceptably poor in patients with chronic heart failure. The present article provides an over-view of the current status in treatment of heart failure and points out possible treatment options in the future. It appears possible to reduce or at least delay progression of heart failure by adding drugs that interfere with novel pathophysiological aspects of the disease (e.g. those that activate the neuroendocrine system and cytokines, alter calcium homeostasis and energy depletion, and prevent hypertrophy) as well as by targeting oxidative stress and stimulating cardiac regeneration by stem cells. (C) 2002 The European Society of Cardiology.