ABIM Advanced HF study guide
ABIM Advanced HF · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology Certification Examination is an ABIM subspecialty certification exam for physicians who want to demonstrate the knowledge, clinical judgment, and skills required for independent practice in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology. ABIM states that its certification exams assess the knowledge, clinical judgment and skills essential for high-quality care in internal medicine and its subspecialties, and that certification demonstrates readiness for independent practice. The exam is given in four sessions over approximately 10 hours, with up to 60 multiple-choice, single-best-answer questions per session. Most questions use clinical vignette stems, and some require interpretation of illustrative material such as ECGs, radiographs, and photomicrographs. Topics on this exam: Heart Failure Diagnosis and Management, Advanced Heart Failure and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Cardiac Transplantation, and Pulmonary Hypertension and Right Heart Failure. The ABIM Advanced HF study guide has 4 sections and about 1,109 words.
01Heart Failure Diagnosis and Management
Heart failure is a clinical syndrome requiring symptoms/signs plus objective evidence, such as elevated natriuretic peptides (NPs) or imaging findings. Classify by LVEF: HFrEF ≤40%, HFmrEF 41–49%, HFpEF ≥50%.
282 words, about 1 min02Advanced Heart Failure and Mechanical Circulatory Support
Advanced HF means persistent NYHA III–IV symptoms despite optimized therapy, recurrent hospitalizations, intolerance of GDMT, and end-organ dysfunction. Objective markers include peak VO2 <12–14 mL/kg/min, inotrope dependence, and INTERMACS profiles 1–4.
264 words, about 1 min03Cardiac Transplantation
Transplant candidates have end-stage HF despite optimized therapy, limited survival, and acceptable end-organ function. Evaluation includes right heart catheterization, assessment of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), sensitization (PRA/virtual crossmatch), infection and malignancy screening, psychosocial assessment, and nutritional status.
278 words, about 1 min04Pulmonary Hypertension and Right Heart Failure
Pulmonary hypertension is classified into five groups: group 1 pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), group 2 left heart disease, group 3 lung disease/hypoxia, group 4 chronic thromboembolic disease, and group 5 multifactorial. Echocardiography estimates probability but cannot diagnose.
285 words, about 1 min