Baseline levels of high-sensitivity (hs) TNF‐α, hs IL‐6, and hsCRP in NECTAR-HF were lower than values found in most studies with HF (including the ANTHEM-HF, the only other study of VNS in HFrEF that provided baseline CRP levels) and more similar to those of healthy individuals [48], suggesting that patients enrolled in NECTAR-HF had little active inflammation and therefore less chance of benefiting from the anti-inflammatory effect of VNS [23]. This evidence concerns the gene TNF and hydrops fetalis.