Scholars@Duke
Gary Michael Felker

Gary Michael Felker

Professor of Medicine
Medicine, Cardiology
michael.felker@duke.edu
Duke Box 3850, Durham, NC 27710
7th FL 2400 Pratt St, Durham, NC 27705

Featured Works

Serelaxin, recombinant human relaxin-2, for treatment of acute heart failure (RELAX-AHF): a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Journal article Lancet · January 5, 2013 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Serelaxin, recombinant human relaxin-2, is a vasoactive peptide hormone with many biological and haemodynamic effects. In a pilot study, serelaxin was safe and well tolerated with positive clinical outcome signals in patients with acute heart f ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ultrafiltration in decompensated heart failure with cardiorenal syndrome.

Journal article N Engl J Med · December 13, 2012 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Ultrafiltration is an alternative strategy to diuretic therapy for the treatment of patients with acute decompensated heart failure. Little is known about the efficacy and safety of ultrafiltration in patients with acute decompensated heart fai ... Full text Link to item Cite

Troponin I in acute decompensated heart failure: insights from the ASCEND-HF study.

Journal article Eur J Heart Fail · November 2012 Featured Publication AIMS: We examined the prognostic importance of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in a cohort of patients enrolled in the ASCEND-HF study of nesiritide in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Circulating troponins are a prognostic marker in patients with ADHF. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Galectin-3 in ambulatory patients with heart failure: results from the HF-ACTION study.

Journal article Circ Heart Fail · January 2012 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Galectin-3 is a soluble ß-galactoside-binding lectin released by activated cardiac macrophages. Elevated levels of galectin-3 have been found to be associated with adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure. We evaluated the association be ... Full text Link to item Cite

Diuretic strategies in patients with acute decompensated heart failure.

Journal article N Engl J Med · March 3, 2011 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Loop diuretics are an essential component of therapy for patients with acute decompensated heart failure, but there are few prospective data to guide their use. METHODS: In a prospective, double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned 308 patients ... Full text Link to item Cite

Coenzyme Q10 and statins in heart failure: the dog that didn't bark.

Journal article J Am Coll Cardiol · October 5, 2010 Featured Publication Full text Link to item Cite

Dyspnoea and worsening heart failure in patients with acute heart failure: results from the Pre-RELAX-AHF study.

Journal article Eur J Heart Fail · October 2010 Featured Publication AIMS: Although dyspnoea is the most common cause of admission for acute heart failure (AHF), more needs to be known about its clinical course and prognostic significance. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Pre-RELAX-AHF study randomized 232 subjects with AHF to plac ... Full text Link to item Cite

Troponin elevation in heart failure prevalence, mechanisms, and clinical implications.

Journal article J Am Coll Cardiol · September 28, 2010 Featured Publication Circulating biomarkers have become increasingly important in diagnosing and risk stratifying patients with heart failure (HF). While the natriuretic peptides have received much focus, there is increasing interest in the role of circulating cardiac troponin ... Full text Link to item Cite

A global rank end point for clinical trials in acute heart failure.

Journal article Circ Heart Fail · September 2010 Featured Publication Full text Link to item Cite

Red blood cell distribution width and 1-year mortality in acute heart failure.

Journal article Eur J Heart Fail · February 2010 Featured Publication AIMS: Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) predicts mortality in chronic heart failure (HF) and stable coronary artery disease. The prognostic value of RDW in more acute settings such as acute HF, and its relative prognostic value compared with more est ... Full text Link to item Cite

A secondary analysis of the CHOIR trial shows that comorbid conditions differentially affect outcomes during anemia treatment.

Journal article Kidney Int · February 2010 Featured Publication The CHOIR trial in anemic patients with chronic kidney disease compared epoetin-alfa treatment with low (11.3 g/l) and high (13.5 g/l) hemoglobin targets on the composite end point of death, hospitalization for heart failure, stroke, and myocardial infarct ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prospective evaluation of the association between hemoglobin concentration and quality of life in patients with heart failure.

Journal article Am Heart J · December 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Reduced hemoglobin has been associated with adverse outcomes in heart failure, but the relationship of hemoglobin to health-related quality of life in outpatients with this syndrome has not been well studied. METHODS: We used data from the pros ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship between anemia and health care costs in heart failure.

Journal article J Card Fail · December 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Anemia is associated with higher morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure (HF), but its implications for heath care costs are not well described. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed data on 1056 patients with symptomatic HF seen at D ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of left ventricular assist device bridging on posttransplant outcomes.

Journal article Ann Thorac Surg · November 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Bridge to heart transplantation with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) can be a promising therapy for patients who are not effectively stabilized with conservative measures. However, referral for LVAD therapy may be limited secondary to r ... Full text Link to item Cite

N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide and exercise capacity in chronic heart failure: data from the Heart Failure and a Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise Training (HF-ACTION) study.

Journal article Am Heart J · October 2009 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and exercise capacity in a large contemporary cohort of patients with chronic heart failure. BACKGROUND: Natriuretic peptides such as NT-proBNP are importa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Biomarker-guided therapy in chronic heart failure: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Journal article Am Heart J · September 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Measurement of circulating natriuretic peptides has been shown to play an important role in diagnosis and prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure. Whether serial natriuretic peptide measurements to aid in the titration of therapy can i ... Full text Link to item Cite

End points for clinical trials in acute heart failure syndromes.

Journal article J Am Coll Cardiol · June 16, 2009 Featured Publication Acute heart failure syndromes (AHFS) remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality, in part because the development of new therapies for these disorders has been marked by frequent failure and little success. The heterogeneity of current approaches to AH ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prospective assessment of the occurrence of anemia in patients with heart failure: results from the Study of Anemia in a Heart Failure Population (STAMINA-HFP) Registry.

Journal article Am Heart J · May 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Although a potentially important pathophysiologic factor in heart failure, the prevalence and predictors of anemia have not been well studied in unselected patients with heart failure. METHODS: The Study of Anemia in a Heart Failure Population ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relaxin for the treatment of patients with acute heart failure (Pre-RELAX-AHF): a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, dose-finding phase IIb study.

Journal article Lancet · April 25, 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Most patients admitted for acute heart failure have normal or increase blood pressure. Relaxin is a natural human peptide that affects multiple vascular control pathways, suggesting potential mechanisms of benefit for such patients. We assessed ... Full text Link to item Cite

Liver function abnormalities and outcome in patients with chronic heart failure: data from the Candesartan in Heart Failure: Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and Morbidity (CHARM) program.

Journal article Eur J Heart Fail · February 2009 Featured Publication AIMS: The prevalence and importance of liver function test (LFT) abnormalities in a large contemporary cohort of heart failure patients have not been systematically evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: We characterized the LFTs of 2679 patients with symptomatic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Loop diuretics in acute decompensated heart failure: necessary? Evil? A necessary evil?

Journal article Circ Heart Fail · January 2009 Featured Publication Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a common and highly morbid cardiovascular disorder. Most hospitalizations for ADHF are related to symptoms of congestion, and the vast majority of ADHF patients are treated with intravenous loop diuretics. Despit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Discordance between patient-predicted and model-predicted life expectancy among ambulatory patients with heart failure.

Journal article JAMA · June 4, 2008 Featured Publication CONTEXT: Patients with chronic heart failure have impaired long-term survival, but their own expectations regarding prognosis have not been well studied. OBJECTIVES: To quantify expectations for survival in patients with heart failure, to compare patient e ... Full text Link to item Cite