UPenn HFpEF Symposium 2021

While the incidence of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) has decreased, the incidence of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) continues to rise, accounting for ~50% of heart failure hospitalizations. Patients with HFpEF are markedly limited in terms of their functional capacity and quality of life, similar to their HFrEF counterparts. Yet in contrast to HFrEF, there are no effective pharmacologic treatments for HFpEF, despite numerous clinical trials, leaving our patients with few therapeutic options. Within this context, many providers at Penn Medicine have come together to care for these challenging patients, incorporating multifaceted diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. The meeting organizers believe that sharing our collective experiences in the management of these patients may be of benefit to the greater community.

The topics chosen for this conference represent the state-of-the-art in HFpEF, incorporating the expertise of numerous disciplines including cardiology, pulmonology, radiology, sleep medicine, bariatric surgery, and endocrinology, amongst others. The meeting is intended to provide an overview of HFpEF management to practicing clinicians, including physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician’s assistants. Because treatment options for these patients are limited, enrollment in clinical trials is paramount in increasing our understanding and treatment of HFpEF. The symposium will also highlight ongoing research efforts, giving clinicians the opportunity to consider referring to our research programs.

This conference is designed for primary care physicians, cardiologists, advanced practice providers, nurse practitioners, nurses, physician assistants and others who see HFpEF patients in both the clinical and research settings.

1. Review the diagnostic criteria for HFpEF, including when to use advanced imaging or hemodynamic assessment
2. Explain HFpEF mimickers, including amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, and inherited cardiomyopathies
3. Discuss the role of non-cardiac structures (such as the arterial system and other organs) in the pathogenesis and treatment of HFpEF
4. Describe the electrophysiologic manifestations of HFpEF and their treatments
5. Discuss ongoing research efforts in cardiology, including pharmacologic and interventional approaches
6. Review ongoing research efforts beyond cardiology

CONFERENCE FORMAT
UPenn HFpEF Symposium 2021 will be held virtually on Friday, April 9, April 16 and 23, 2021 by live stream only. The virtual presentations will follow the scheduled agenda in real time. There will be a live Q&A Session following each block of presentations. Please Note: You must be signed into the live, virtual stream in real time (EST) in order to receive credit. Presentations will be made available to registered attendees for later viewing.

A link to join the symposium will be emailed to all pre-registered attendees two days in advance. Please be sure to check your junkmail or spambox for emails from UPenn Cloud CME or Penn CME.

The registration fee covers your attendance to one or all of the sessions. You must sign into the virtual platform at least once for each of the sessions you register for in order to be marked as attended for that day! Once your attendance has been verified, the recordings will be made available following the conclusion of each session. The recordings will be accessible from the UPenn Cloud CME toolbar by clicking on "My CE/CME" and then "Syllabus".

To view the agenda, faculty, presentations and videos*, please click one of the links below. The sessions will be live from 12:00 pm - 5:30 pm EST, and topics are as follows:

Friday, April 9, 2021: Diagnostic Strategies in the Clinical Management of HFpEF
Friday, April 16, 2021: Therapeutic Strategies in the Clinical Management of HFpEF
Friday April 23, 2021: Translational Research Opportunities in HFpEF

*presentations and videos will be available the day of the session(s) and will only be available to those whose attendance to that day’s session has been verified. The slides and presentations will be available until July 23, 2021.