[Epidemiology of heart failure].

During the past decades incidence and prevalence of heart failure has markedly increased. This contrasts with most other cardiovascular diseases, which have declined. Among people aged 80 years and over prevalence may be as high as several percent of the population. According to the high prevalence of the disease, the high frequency of outpatient consultations, but in particular because of a high rate of hospitalizations with long average duration, costs for the health care system are very high. Patients with heart failure suffer from a reduction in quality of life exceeding that of most other chronic diseases, and mortality after diagnosis of heart failure remains high.