[How to diagnose heart-failure?].

How to diagnose heart failure? Abstract. In light of the ongoing demographic development with a continuous increase in people older than 65 years heart failure becomes a growing public health issue. The suspicion of the diagnosis is based on clinical signs and symptoms representing the effects of increased cardiac filling pressure, congestion and hypoperfusion. Natriuretic peptides (BNP and NT-proBNP) are key to corroborate the working diagnosis. In subjects with natriuretic peptide levels above the threshold of exclusion, the diagnosis is confirmed by documenting the underlying functional or structural cardiac alterations using echocardiography.