The effects of β-blocker therapy on clinical outcomes in patients with myocardial infarction and mildly reduced (40-49%) left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) are largely unknown. Four recently conducted randomised trials tested the efficacy of β blockers after a recent myocardial infarction in patients without reduced LVEF (LVEF ≥40%). However, none were individually powered to assess these effects in the subgroup of patients with mildly reduced LVEF. We aimed to assess the efficacy of β blockers in patients with myocardial infarction and mildly reduced LVEF during the index hospitalisation.

Vericiguat is indicated to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalisation for heart failure in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) following a recent worsening event. The aim of the VICTOR trial was to assess the effect of vericiguat in patients with HFrEF without recent heart failure worsening.

Following completion of the VICTORIA trial, vericiguat was approved for the treatment of worsening heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and received a class IIb recommendation in European and North American guidelines. The subsequent VICTOR trial evaluated the use of vericiguat in patients with HFrEF and no recent worsening. We aimed to assess the effect of vericiguat on clinical endpoints through pooled analyses of patient-level data from the VICTORIA and VICTOR trials.

Influenza vaccination is widely recommended to prevent death and serious illness in vulnerable people, including those with heart failure. However, the randomised evidence to support this practice is limited and few people are vaccinated in many parts of the world. We aimed to determine whether influenza vaccination can improve the outcome of patients after an episode of acute heart failure requiring admission to hospital in China.

Heart failure remains one of the 21st century's greatest unmet clinical and public health challenges. Heart failure is a highly prevalent chronic condition that affects approximately 55 million people worldwide. Although heart failure can be prevented, the global burden of this condition continues to grow, fuelled by an ageing population, improved survival after myocardial infarction, and increasing prevalence of metabolic and kidney disease. Public health efforts for cardiovascular disease prevention to date have primarily targeted coronary heart disease. Despite overlapping prevention targets for coronary heart disease and heart failure, prevention of the latter requires tailored approaches to target its unique pathophysiology and heterogeneous subtypes. This Lancet Series serves as a call to action for clinicians, health systems, and governments to prioritise the primary prevention of heart failure. Herein, we review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and risk factors of heart failure and propose a comprehensive framework for prevention of this condition that includes screening to assess risk of this condition (eg, multivariable risk equations) and detection of pre-heart failure (eg, biomarkers). Successfully reducing the burden of heart failure will require concerted efforts to define clinical workflows across the life course, scalable implementation strategies, and increased public awareness of this pressing crisis.

This Series paper highlights the substantial progress made in understanding and preventing heart failure after acute myocardial infarction. Improving global standards of care for management of acute myocardial infarction with timelier reperfusion has led to stepwise reductions in risk of incident heart failure. Landmark clinical trials have established the role of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors, β blockers, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists to specifically reduce the risk of incident heart failure after acute myocardial infarction. However, residual risk of heart failure persists in many individuals, even after revascularisation and standard medical therapies. We review recent epidemiological trends from the past four decades, evolving understanding of the pathological mechanisms underlying incident heart failure, and modern risk stratification tools. We then propose a treatment pathway tailored to individual patient risk and discuss potential future strategies to incrementally improve the risk of development of heart failure after acute myocardial infarction.

The substantial and growing prevalence of heart failure, which remains the leading cause of preventable hospitalisation worldwide, has brought heart failure prevention into sharp focus. Although this condition has historically been characterised by impaired cardiac function, mounting evidence has underscored its complex and multisystem pathobiology. Epidemiological studies have indicated that other forms of cardiovascular disease, along with kidney and metabolic dysfunction, frequently and increasingly contribute to heart failure onset. Clinical trials have additionally demonstrated the power of several new pharmacotherapies to simultaneously modify cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic (CKM) health. This convergence of epidemiology and therapy highlights deeply interconnected mechanisms of disease, identifying CKM diseases-and their pathophysiological and sociostructural antecedents-as important but often under-recognised targets for heart failure prevention. Herein, we illustrate that positioning heart failure prevention within the broader context of CKM health provides an actionable framework for patients, health-care professionals, health systems, communities, and policy makers.

Systematic analyses of global health trends can provide an accurate narrative of progress and challenges. We analysed the impact of changing age-specific mortality (epidemiology) and age structure (demography) on crude death rates (CDRs) and causes of death with large or rising mortality to inform the third Lancet Commission on Investing in Health.

A paucity of evidence regarding use of endoscopic sinus surgery and antibiotics in managing chronic rhinosinusitis has contributed to a five-times variation in endoscopic sinus surgery rates, as well as variation in the use of antibiotics. The main aim of the present trial was to compare the clinical effectiveness of endoscopic sinus surgery or 3 months of clarithromycin treatment alongside intranasal medication in adults with chronic rhinosinusitis with or without nasal polyps.

We aimed to quantify the blood pressure-lowering efficacy of antihypertensive drugs and their combinations from the five major drug classes.