Recommendations for early identification of heart failure in patients with diabetes: Consensus statement of the Swiss Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology and the Heart Failure Working Group of the Swiss Society of Cardiology

Abstract

Diabetes is a well-recognised risk factor for the development of heart failure, with a prevalence higher than 30% in patients with diabetes aged over 60 years. Heart failure often emerges as the primary cardiovascular manifestation in patients with type 2 diabetes and appears to be even more prevalent in type 1 diabetes. In Switzerland, there are approximately 500,000 individuals with diabetes, and the number of affected people has been steadily rising in recent years. Therefore, the consequences of heart failure will affect an increasing number of patients, further straining the Swiss healthcare system. Early lifestyle modification and initiation of appropriate treatment can prevent or at least significantly delay the onset of symptomatic heart failure by several years. These facts underscore the urgent need for early detection of individuals with subclinical heart failure, which often remains undiagnosed until the first episode of acute heart failure requiring hospital admission occurs. To address this issue, the European Society of Cardiology, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and other international professional societies have published recommendations on heart failure screening, diagnosis and management. To address this issue in Switzerland, experts from the Swiss Society of Endocrinology and Diabetology, the Swiss Society of Cardiology and the General Internal Medicine specialty met and prepared a consensus report including a simple diagnostic algorithm for use in everyday practice.