Rengo Franco, Leosco Dario, Iacovoni Attilio, Rengo Giuseppe, Golino Luca, Borgia Francesco, De Lisa Gabriella, Beneduce Flora, Senni Michele
Università degli Studi Federico II, Napoli.
Ital Heart J. 2004 Dec;5 Suppl 10:9S-16S.
Heart failure achieves particular relevance and different characteristics in the elderly population, especially for the clinical complexity related to the presence of comorbidity and chronicity, which are common conditions in these patients. Despite recent advances in clinical approach, diagnosis and therapeutic management of heart failure, the incidence and prevalence of this syndrome are still increasing, owing to the better control of the disease, and, largely, to the aging of the population. Epidemiologic data indicate that heart failure represents a crucial problem in the elderly population in terms of social, economic, and health burden. Despite their importance in the worsening of heart failure and prevention of the progression of this syndrome, the risks of hospital readmission and the causes of exacerbation have not been systematically evaluated in controlled trials. This explains why the precipitating factors of heart failure remain unknown in more than 40% of cases. For these reasons, prospective studies are needed in order to assess and clearly define the risk of hospital readmission and the causes related to heart failure exacerbation in the elderly population.
心力衰竭在老年人群中具有特殊的相关性和不同的特征，尤其是由于合并症和慢性疾病的存在所导致的临床复杂性，而这些在老年患者中很常见。尽管在心力衰竭的临床治疗方法、诊断和治疗管理方面取得了最新进展，但由于疾病控制得更好以及很大程度上由于人口老龄化，该综合征的发病率和患病率仍在上升。流行病学数据表明，心力衰竭在社会、经济和健康负担方面是老年人群中的一个关键问题。尽管再入院风险和病情加重原因在心力衰竭恶化和预防该综合征进展方面很重要，但在对照试验中尚未对其进行系统评估。这就解释了为什么超过40%的心力衰竭病例的诱发因素仍然未知。出于这些原因，需要进行前瞻性研究，以评估并明确界定老年人群再入院风险以及与心力衰竭病情加重相关的原因。
