PMID: 16623353Apr 21, 2006Paper

Acutely decompensated heart failure: characteristics of hospitalized patients and opportunities to improve their care

Revista Portuguesa De Cardiologia : Orgão Oficial Da Sociedade Portuguesa De Cardiologia = Portuguese Journal of Cardiology : an Official Journal of the Portuguese Society of Cardiology
Pedro Moraes SarmentoAna Aleixo

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) remains a major public health problem in western countries, despite the enormous progress in its diagnosis and treatment. Acute and chronic decompensated HF are leading medical causes of hospitalization among people aged over 65 years in European countries, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. However, there have been few studies on acute and chronic decompensated HF and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines on this subject have only just been published. To evaluate the overall prevalence of hospitalization due to HF according to its subtypes, comorbidities, and decompensating factors, in the Medical Department of a central teaching hospital in an urban area. We performed a retrospective observational study of patients admitted consecutively to the Medical Department via the emergency room between January and June 2001. Discharge casenotes on 1038 admissions were reviewed. Those with a diagnosis of HF or cardiovascular conditions associated with or precursors of HF were analyzed. Cases with a final diagnosis of HF according to the criteria of the ESC guidelines were included in the study. We evaluated the overall prevalence of HF and subtypes of cardiac dysfunction, etiological risk factors, pati...Continue Reading

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