Changes in characteristics of hospitalized heart failure patients in ten years: a single-center study.

Background: Progress in therapy and the ageing patients hospitalized with heart failure may have impacted the characteristics of this patients.

Aims: We compared epidemiological data of patients admitted with heart failure during two periods separated by a 10 year interval.

Methods: Characteristics of 353 heart failure patients recruited between 2002 and 2004 with those of 304 heart failure patients recruited between 1992 and 1994 were compared retrospectively.