ABSTRACT
Congestive heart failure is a common and costly condition.1 Acute cardiogenic pulmonary oedema (APO) is responsible for the majority of acute hospital admissions in people aged above 65 years, of whom ~50 per cent are readmitted for the same reason within a year. Both incidence and prevalence of chronic heart failure are increasing, due to an ageing population and improved management of most medical conditions (including ischaemic heart disease), such that >10 per cent of people now aged 80 years have heart failure. The 5-year mortality, from the time of heart failure diagnosis, is 50 per cent, which rivals many malignancies. Thus new and imaginative heart failure management strategies are required.
