ABSTRACT
The true prevalence of cardiomyopathy in the elderly may be underestimated because of
the low sensitivity of the clinical criteria, particularly in milder cases. Data from the
Framingham study demonstrate that the incidence of heart failure is 10% in patients
older than 80 years of age as compared with only 1% in patients who are in their sixth
decade (1). Approximately one-third of those identified expire within two years of
diagnosis. The annual incidence in men aged 85 to 95 years was noted to be 4.4%, with a
doubling of incidence noted with each 10 years of age, making heart failure the leading
primary diagnosis in hospitalized elderly patients (1,2). This chapter focuses on the
nonischemic causes for cardiomyopathy encountered commonly in the elderly.
