The Center for Heart Failure Research (CHFR) was established in 2002 and has since then promoted the integration of high quality research from bench to bedside. Center members have a broad range of expertise, covering state-of-the-art gene technology, protein function, integrative physiology in pathophysiological models and clinical studies. This collective knowledge and active research collaboration has resulted in more than 200 scientific publications each year.

The Annual Symposiums that began in 2003 have constituted an important platform for networking, introduction of up-and-coming academic talents, along with impressive research results, not to mention the presence of important international speakers shedding light on recent advancements in cardiovascular research.

Strengthening national research with the intent to promote scientific excellence has been an important mission for CHFR. Improving PhD programs and fostering young researchers is a way of reaching this goal. As part of this strategy, CHFR members initiated the establishment of the Norwegian PhD School of Heart Research (NORHEART) in 2012, together with key researchers from all major Universities in Norway.

The complete program from this year`s Symposium is available at heartfailure.no , while a report with pictures is provided by norheart.no.

Several researchers presented their latest studies at the annual Congress of European Society for Cardiology, the largest get-together of its kind. Elevating the Congress further this year was its conjunction with the World Congress of Cardiology, putting the spotlight on global cardiovascular health, highlighting differences in prevalence, clinical manifestations, prevention strategies, diagnostic modalities and management of cardiovascular diseases around the world, as stated on the ESC webpage.

Our research collaborator in Japan, assistant professor Katsuji Inoue, MD, PhD, presented two very interesting studies, the first suggesting that left atrial reservoir strain can be used to predict elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, thus allowing discrimination between pre- and post-capillary pulmonary hypertension. The second study “Estimation of pulmonary artery pressure from right atrial strain and tricuspid regurgitation velocity” concluded that right atrial strain provides a semiquantitative measure of right atrial pressure, which can be used in combination with peak tricuspid regurgitation velocity to estimate systolic pulmonary artery pressure. This approach can be used as an alternative when the IVC method (estimation of right atrial pressure by echocardiographic evaluation of inferior vena cava diameter and collapsibility) is not available in cases with poor subcostal window.

Dr. Inoue also co-authored the study «Restricted left atrial motion as a result of atrial stiffening in patients with cardiac amyloidosis” that sought to determine whether left atrial (LA) reservoir strain with speckle tracking echocardiography could be used as a marker of LA stiffness in a derivation cohort. Furthermore, the hypothesis that LA reservoir strain could differentiate cardiac amyloidosis (CA) patients from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in an independent validation cohort was tested. The study concluded that LA reservoir function was fairly limited in patients with CA compared with HCM. Restricted LA motion might be related to atrial amyloid deposits or fibrosis, which potentially provokes atrial chamber stiffening.

During the ACC 19th Scientific Sessions Meeting in New Orleans in March, our visiting researcher Associate Professor Katsuji Inoue from Japan, presented two abstracts titled “Left Atrial Strain as a Surrogate Marker of Atrial Chamber Stiffness” and “Reduced Left Atrial Reservoir Strain at Rest Predicts Elevated Left Ventricular Filling Pressure During Exercise”, where the latter was selected as a moderated poster under the non-invasive imaging session in addition to being introduced in the Echocardiography Highlights Session at the ACC 2019. 

Center for Heart Failure Research (CHFR) invites to a workshop on Diastolic Function in Heart Failure on Wednesday 7th of November at Ullevål Hospital, starting at 12'00 o'clock.
Holding the key note lecture will be Professor Frank A. Flachskampf, MD, PhD from University of Uppsala, Sweden.
Professor Flachskampf is part of a world-renowned clinical research team in ischaemic heart disease and his talk will address how imaging reflects pathophysiology in diastolic function assessment.
The final talk of the day will be by Associate professor Stig Urheim, MD, PhD from Haukeland University Hospital. His talk is titled "Exercise intolerance in heart failure patients with preserved EF (HFpEF) - not only diastolic impairment".

Sign up for the workshop     

Read the program

CHFR Workshop on Dyssynchrony in Heart Failure took place at Rikshospitalet on Thursday October 11th. The workshop had focus on dyssynchrony and consequences for the failing heart, including the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy. Methods to identify and quantify dyssynchrony by cardiac imaging were the main topic.

Opening the meeting was invited speaker Professor Theodore P. Abraham, MD, PhD from University of California, San Francisco with an excellent talk on the role of imaging in patients with left ventricular dyssynchrony. Professor Abraham directs the UCSF Echocardiography laboratory and is also a co-director of the UCSF HCM Center of Excellence. He is a well renowned expert in transthoracic, stress and transesophageal echocardiography.

The Annual CHFR Symposium on Heart Failure has now been arranged for the 16th time.

Among the invited speakers at the CHFR Symposium this year was the President of the Japanese Society of Echocardiography, Satoshi Nakatani from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine. He held a very interesting talk on novel methods for quantification of left ventricular function.

Atrial switch operation in patients with transposition of the great arteries (TGA), leads to leftward shift and changes the geometry of the interventricular septum. This mechanistic study demonstrates that septal dysfunction contributes to failure of the systemic RV after atrial switch in TGA patients. Medical therapy that counteracts septal flattening may improve function of the systemic RV. First author of the study is PhD fellow Petter Storsten.

The world’s largest conference in cardiovascular medicine took place late August in Munich, Germany. The annual Congress hosted by the European Society of Cardiology has earned a strong global reputation as a provider of the latest science in the field. New guidelines and their implementation are discussed. Clinically relevant information and advice is presented in numerous sessions, including over 4 500 abstract presentations. This year the spotlight was on “Valvular Heart Disease” focusing on innovative treatments and techniques.