Epidemiology and economic burden of chronic heart failure

Chronic heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the general population. Both, the increasing age of the population and success in the treatment of patients with acute myocardial infarction rise the prevalence and thus the economic expenditures of chronic heart failure. This holds true despite recent improvement in survival of patients with congestive heart failure due to treatment with ACE inhibitors, beta-adrenoceptor blockers and aldosterone antagonists. Chronic heart failure consumes 1-2% of the total healthcare resources in the industriatised countries with increasing tendency in future. The most effective approach for preventing heart failure is an improvement in diagnosis and consequent treatment of arterial hypertension. Evidence based treatment of congestive heart failure is both effective in towering morbidity and mortality as well as cost-effective from an economic point of view. (C) 2004 The European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.