LAUSR

Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure (HF) provided by the European Society of Cardiology state that echocardiography is recommended for the assessment of the myocardial structure and function of subjects with suspected HF including HF with reduced (HFrEF), mid‐range (HFmrEF), and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) as class I of recommendation and level C of evidence. However, the impact of timing of echocardiography on survival for hospitalized HF patients or the prevalence of echocardiography during their stay has not yet been fully investigated. Therefore, we designed and conducted a prospective multicentre study, Optimal Timing of Echocardiography for Heart Failure Inpatients in Japanese Institutions (OPTIMAL) study, to investigate and evaluate the prevalence of echocardiography during the in‐hospital stay of HF patients, and the impact of timing of echocardiography on their survival.