The Mass General Brigham Heart Failure & Shock Course

2024 Course Overview

Information for the 2025 course is not yet available.

This Comprehensive Mass General Brigham Heart Failure & Shock symposium will provide practical insights for all clinicians who manage patients with heart failure (HF) and cardiogenic shock. This offering is a 2-part course, of which participants can choose to partake in one or both parts. The first half of the course will be an in-depth review of cardiogenic shock while the second half of the course focuses on HF guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT) and beyond - the latest HF innovations with an emphasis on device- and technology-based therapies. 

 Massachusetts General Hospital Faculty and guest speakers who are leaders in the field will address state-of-the-art issues including: up-to-date knowledge of cardiogenic shock pathophysiology, shock phenotypes and trajectories; best practices in shock diagnosis and management; the roles of temporary mechanical circulatory support in shock treatment; emerging heart failure therapies; nuts and bolts of day to day HF management by our APPs on how to administer outpatient diuretics, manage IV iron; establish best practices for lifestyle changes; the use of exercise-hemodynamic assessments to characterize heart failure phenotypes; and contemporary heart failure and shock clinical trials that will determine the future of patient care. 

In addition, the symposium will debate best practices for cardiovascular team-based care in the management of advanced coronary artery disease and percutaneous valve interventions. Particular attention will be paid to arrhythmia management in HF with an emphasis on ablation in atrial fibrillation for HF with preserved and reduced ejection fraction, how to treat ventricular tachycardia, cardiac resynchronization therapy alternatives, and options for non-cardiac resynchronization therapy candidates. The assessment of right heart failure from the characterization of disease progression to management approaches, including the selection of candidates for temporary mechanical support will be discussed. The 2024 updates on left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) and state of cardiac transplantation will be provided. The need for improving the disparities in HF treatment and management will be underscored. The symposium will illustrate the Mass General Hospital Heart Failure Division’s comprehensive approach to the management of heart failure and cardiogenic shock for all cardiovascular clinicians. 

Who Should Attend

• Nurses
• Primary Care Physicians
• Physician Assistants
• Specialty Physicians
• Pharmacists
• Nurse Practitioners 

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Explain the pathophysiology of HF and describe the diagnostic evaluation of a patient presenting with HF.
• Describe current evidence-based medical and device therapeutics for HF. 
• Identify HF with preserved and reduced ejection fraction phenotypes with use of CPET. 
• Recognize the importance of co-managing HF patients with APPs and partner hospitals for advanced HF as well as need for lifestyle management, timely palliative care consultation, and ongoing need for equity. 
• Understand the importance of early diagnosis of cardiogenic shock and timely institution of appropriate therapies.
• Describe the indications and managements of temporary mechanical circulatory support.
• Summarize the design of a system of shock care.
• Educate the trajectories of shock, and how to predict which patients will improve vs. worsen.
• Describe race and sex disparities in outcomes and treatments for patients with cardiogenic shock, and approaches to improve equity.