Overview of Heart Failure in Argentina

Abstract

Approximately 1-2 % of the adult population in developed countries has HF, with the prevalence rising to ≥10 % among persons 70 years of age or older [ 8 ]. In USA, with a prevalence of 2.8 %, an E. R. Perna , MD (*) [ 9 ]. In Europe, the estimation of prevalent cases are 15 million, with 1.3 million of incident ones [ 10 ]. Extrapolation to Argentinean population shows that more than 1.1 million have CHF, with 120,000 new cases, 77,000 hospitalization and around of 45,000 deaths per year.•Population-based studies have not been done in Argentina. Therefore, indirect data about mortality trend can be obtained from the analysis of offi cial statistics. The impact of the heart failure in Argentina was fi rstly evaluated through the data-base of vital statistics from the National Program of Health Statistics. Among all cardiovascular diseases, heart failure was the most frequent cause of mortality. From 1980 to 1997 a progressive reduction of 31 % in the rate of cardiovascular mortality was observed, whereas a decrease in the mortality rate due to heart failure of 22.4 % was registered from 1990 to 1997 [ 11 ].From 1997 to 2006, unadjusted mortality rate due to heart failure remained unchanged (80.9 vs 74.6/100,000 inhabitants, p = 0.11). However, there was a progressive reduction in age-adjusted mortality rates due to cardiovascular system disease ( Fig. 15.1 ) as well as heart failure in both, man and woman ( Fig. 15.2 ) [ 12 ]. Comparison between 1997 and 2006 rates demonstrated a consistent 20 % of reduced mortality in both genders (Table 15.1 ). Almost all recent studies demonstrate a decline in age-adjusted death rates attributed to HF, either mentioned anywhere on the death certifi cate or recorded as the underlying cause of death [ 7 ]. Acute Heart Failure SyndromesDuring the last two decades, several registries and studies, including 19,727 subjects, have evaluated different aspects of AHFS [ 13 -26 ] as well as CHF [ 27 -32 ].Twelve of them recruited patients admitted to the hospital for acute decompensated heart failure. Pooled data included 10,679 subjects prospectively collected in different regions of the country, and its main characteristics are summarized in Table 15.2 .In three registries, The National Survey of Coronary Care Units (ENUC) [ 13 ], the Epi-Cardio prospective survey [ 20 ] and Platense Registry of Rate (x 100,000) Rate (x 100,000) Fig. 15.1 Age-adjusted mortality rates in Argentina by causes E.R. Perna et al.