Future of personalized pharmacotherapy in chronic heart failure patients

There is a significant amount of diversity among heart failure (HF) patients. Contemporary HF regimens often do not take into consideration many of the factors that might influence an individuals response to treatment. Clinical recommendations based on trial data derived from mainly younger Caucasian male study populations have, in most cases, been applied equally to women and African-Americans. Subgroup analyses of randomized HF trials and results of retrospective cohort studies have been used for customizing HF regimens in women and African-Americans. Pharmacogenetics is an emerging strategy for personalizing HF therapy. Genetic biomarkers may play an important role in predicting a patients response to treatment and in predicting those at risk of toxicity. HF pharmacotherapy has improved over the last two decades; however, substantial work remains in order to personalize HF management and maximize the benefit of pharmacologic interventions, while limiting adverse events.