Heart failure in the elderly

• 作 者: Pablo Díez-Villanueva César Jiménez-Méndez Fernando Alfonso
• 机 构: Cardiology Department,Hospital Universitario La Princesa,Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,CIBER-CV,Mad
• 出 处: 老年心脏病学杂志（英文版）
• 发表日期: 2021年3期

Heart failure(HF)is a clinical syndrome caused by structural and/or functional cardiac abnormalities,resulting in a reduced cardiac output and/or elevated intracardiac filling pressures at rest or during stress.HF is a major public health problem with high prevalence and incidence,involving both high morbidity and mortality,but also high economic costs.The in-cidence of HF progressively increases with age,reaching around 20％among people over 75 years old.Indeed,HF represents the leading cause of hospitalization in patients older than 65 years in Western countries.Hence,some authors even consider HF a geriatric syndrome,entailing worse prognosis and high residual disability,and often associating some complex comorbidities,common in older population,that may further complicate the course of the disease.On the other hand,however,clinical course and prognosis may be often difficult to predict.In this article,main pathophysiological issues related to the aging heart are ad-dressed,together with key aspects related to both diagnosis and prognosis in elderly patients with HF.Besides,main geriatric conditions,common in the elderly population,are reviewed,highlighting the importance of a comprehensive and multidisciplin-ary approach.