ABSTRACT
Earlier chapters have established that heart failure is a potentially malignant, chronic, debilitating condition suffered by a very large number of patients and their families. We have seen that the average age of patients with heart failure in the UK is 77, which is similar to the average age of patients with cancer. But just as with cancer, heart failure can sometimes affect children and young adults, and although the number of such individuals is much smaller, the impact of a lifethreatening illness coming early in life can be devastating.
