Role of the general practitioner

Points of attention
when doing blood tests

Clinical points of interest during consultation with the general practitioner

What problems can occur and what are the alarming symptoms?

Follow-up of parameters (weight, blood pressure, heart rate) :

This is best measured by the patient at home.
In the event of a sudden change in any of these parameters and/or symptoms, the patient, the environment or the nurse must consult the doctor and/or the heart failure nurse.
It is best to register these parameters via:
- A heart failure diary (provided by the heart failure clinic) and/or in the home care record.
- A remote monitoring system (by filling in in an application, or automatically via a scale and a blood pressure monitor connected to a remote monitoring platform).

Titration of therapy

The recommended treatment and targets are different for HFrEF, HFmrEF and HFpEF. These are summarized in the table below.

Why? Read also : Prognostic benefits of the treatments.

The GP, together with cardiologists and other physicians, has an important role in the correct titration of the therapy according to the evolution of the clinical condition (weight, signs of fluid retention, blood pressure, heart rate, kidney function and ionogram). The flowchart below can help you with adjustments to the therapy to bring it and keep it as optimal as possible.