Hospitalization and mortality rates for heart failure in public hospitals in São Paulo.

Background: Advances in the treatment of heart failure (HF) have resulted in reduced mortality and hospitalization rates. On the other hand, when hospitalized, patients are at high risk of death.

Objective: As there are few studies in this group of patients in Brazil, we analyzed the numbers of hospitalization and deaths due to HF in the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) in the city of São Paulo.