This article provides information and a commentary on trials relevant to the pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of heart failure presented at the Heart Failure Society of America and the American Heart Association meetings in 2008. Unpublished reports should be considered as preliminary, as analyses may change in the final publication. (i) SADHART-CHF showed no difference in outcome for heart failure patients with depression treated with sertraline compared with placebo. (ii) A controlled release carvedilol formulation showed similar LV haemodynamic effects to the standard carvedilol formulation in the COMPARE study. (iii) A post hoc analysis of the MOMENTUM study suggested that patients with less severe heart failure may be more likely to benefit from a continuous aortic flow augmentation device. (iv) A thyroid hormone analogue was poorly tolerated in patients with heart failure. (v) HF-ACTION showed that exercise training is safe and offers modest clinical benefits in patients with heart failure. (vi) Irbesartan failed to improve outcomes in patients with preserved ejection fraction in the I-PRESERVE study. (vii) A phase II study of beta-interferon administration in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy showed encouraging results. (viii) The BACH study showed that mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin was more accurate than BNP or NT-proBNP at predicting outcome at 90 days in patients with acute heart failure. (ix) A secondary analysis from ATHENA showed a reduction in cardiovascular hospitalizations and strokes for patients with atrial fibrillation receiving dronedarone compared with placebo.