Cardiac failure in the elderly.

Cardiac failure in the elderly is caused by many of the same factors that produce cardiac failure in younger individuals. However, cardiac decompensation may be attributable to certain abnormalities that occur predominantly or exclusively in the geriatric age group and certain physiologic alterations that are caused by the process of aging. Management incorporates most of the therapeutic measures used in younger individuals, with alterations designed to accommodate decreased renal function and enhance compliance.