Mode of death in patients with newly diagnosed heart failure in the general population.

Background: Early prognosis for incident (new) heart failure (HF) patients in the general population is poor. Clinical trials suggest approximately half of chronic HF patients die suddenly but mode of death for incident HF cases in the general population has not been evaluated.

Aims: To describe mode of death in the first six months after a new diagnosis in the general population.

The development of heart failure in patients with stable angina pectoris.

Background: To describe the clinical characteristics of patients with stable angina pectoris who develop heart failure and the events preceding its onset.

Methods And Results: Of 7665 patients with stable angina in the ACTION trial, which compared long-acting nifedipine to placebo, 207 (2.7%) developed heart failure (HF) during a mean follow-up of 4.

Incidence and outcome of persons with a clinical diagnosis of heart failure in a general practice population of 696,884 in the United Kingdom.

Background: There are few large population-based studies of the incidence and outcome of heart failure where the diagnosis of heart failure (HF) has been made by a General Practitioner (GP) in the community.

Methods: From the General Practice Research Database in the UK, we selected a population of 686,884 people 45 years or older. Incident cases of HF in 1991 were classified definite HF, possible HF, or a first prescription of diuretics without a diagnosis of HF.

The epidemiological enigma of heart failure with preserved systolic function.

Background: Current epidemiological evidence suggests that the prevalence of preserved systolic function in patients with heart failure varies widely from 13 to 74%. This inconsistency suggests a lack of consensus as to what this condition really is and how it has been characterised for epidemiological studies.

Aims: In this review, we summarise and discuss the current understanding of the epidemiology of heart failure with preserved systolic function and the challenges that this raises.

Haemoglobin concentration and prognosis in new cases of heart failure.

Anaemia is common in severe chronic heart failure and is reported to be a predictor of death. We investigated 552 patients (median age 76 years, range 29-95; 54% men [n=296]), in whom the duration of heart failure was sufficiently short that it would be unlikely to affect haemoglobin concentrations. By contrast with studies in established chronic heart failure, haemoglobin was not independently associated with prognosis when age and serum creatinine concentration were included in the analysis.