Role of Monitoring Devices in Preventing Heart Failure Admissions

Kenneth McDonald, Mark Wilkinson, Mark Ledwidge

This review aims to discuss and summarize the evidence base for devices that have a role in monitoring patients with heart failure for the purpose of attempting to prevent heart failure-related admissions. Despite contemporary heart failure service provision, many patients continue to need acute admission for decompensation. There is a clinical need for a better strategy for predicting decompensation earlier so that appropriate therapeutic interventions can be commenced sooner in order to prevent the need for acute hospital admission. Between clinical assessment visits, the contemporary approach to management is based primarily on daily home monitoring of weight by patients; while this has proved useful, it falls short. For example, substantial weight gain was seen in only 20 % of ADHF admission patients according to data collected in the TEN-HMS home telemonitoring study. Monitoring devices offer the possibility of tracking additional physiological or haemodynamic parameters that may allow for earlier detection and more accurate identification of patients at risk of acute decompensation.