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Diagnosis of heart failure in elderly patients in primary care
Author(s) -
Owen Andrew,
Cox Stephen
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
european journal of heart failure
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.149
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1879-0844
pISSN - 1388-9842
DOI - 10.1016/s1388-9842(00)00086-6
Subject(s) - medicine , heart failure , atrial fibrillation , cardiology , clinical practice , population , diastole , diastolic heart failure , physical therapy , blood pressure , ejection fraction , environmental health
Background: Heart failure is difficult to diagnose in a primary care setting with a reported false positive diagnosis in up to 70% of cases. Aims: To use echocardiography in a large rural practice to evaluate the accuracy of diagnosis of heart failure in patients over 65 years of age. Methods: Sixty patients with a previous diagnosis of heart failure were selected at random from the practice records and were invited to attend for an echocardiogram at the practice premises. Results: Fifty‐eight patients attended, the age was 81±7 years, 29% had impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function of whom 65% were in atrial fibrillation. A further 7% had isolated diastolic LV dysfunction. The prevalence of heart failure by clinical assessment was 29 per 1000 in this patient group and 9 per 1000 when echocardiography was used to confirm the diagnosis. Conclusion: True heart failure in this population is less prevalent than has been estimated from practice records.