Heart Failure Trends in Paraíba: Earlier Diagnosis or Better Treatment? – That is One of the Questions

Heart Failure (HF) is a clinical syndrome with high prevalence, morbidity and mortality worldwide.^– It is also one of the main causes for hospital admissions with elevated direct and indirect costs.^– The prevalence of HF is expected to increase due to the increase in cardiovascular risk factors in the general population and to the increase in life expectancy. Elderly patients are more prone to the development of HF, as well as of admissions for HF. For that reason, an increase in the economic burden of HF is expected in the next decades.^–

Previously published data showed, however, some epidemiological differences according to the world region, when comparing developing and developed countries. Recently published data from the European Society of cardiology Heart Failure Long-term Registry, a registry that included a wide spectrum of countries with very different socio-economic backgrounds, from Southern, Western, Northern and Eastern Europe, as well as Middle East and Northern Africa, showed significant between-region differences in baseline characteristics, clinical characteristics and also treatment and outcomes in patients with acute and chronic HF.

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