Determinants of Mortality in Elderly Patients With Heart Failure

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Abstract
CHRONIC HEART failure (CHF) affects between 1 and 2 million Americans1 and is responsible for large and growing annual health care expenditures.2,3 As its incidence increases, it has become the most common discharge diagnosis among Medicare beneficiaries.4 Guidelines for care of patients with CHF have been proposed by at least 2 expert groups.5,6 The major recommendations contained in these guidelines are basically consistent, and review criteria based on these guidelines have been proposed7 that emphasize identifying patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction and using angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I).