An overview of contemporary etiologies of congestive heart failure

Abstract

While heart failure has been designated as an epidemic, understanding its determinants is important. Data indicate that the incidence in heart failure has been stable over time while mortality has decreased leading to an increase in prevalence of heart failure. This in turn implies that hospitalizations are a major driver of the heart failure epidemic, which identifies opportunities for interventions. The etiology of heart failure remains an on-going controversy related to methodological discrepancies across studies as well as ambiguity in the definition and criteria for heart failure. This should be the subject of future studies.