Perspectiva de la insuficiencia cardíaca en la Argentina. / [Heart failure in Argentina]

ABSTRACT

Heart failure is a common and costly clinical entity that implies high morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to establish the impact of the heart failure syndrome in our country. We analyzed 1) the data-base of vital statistics from the National Program of Health Statistics, Ministry of Health, between 1980 and 1997, 2) the registers from two national surveys on heart failure patients performed by the Argentine Society of Cardiology and the Argentine Council of Residents in Cardiology. Cardiovascular syndromes have constituted the first cause of death in our country for the last twenty years. Among these, heart failure represents the most frequent entity. From 1980 to 1997 a progressive reduction of 31