Screening: the new frontier in heart failure management.

摘要

Heart failure is a major health problem throughout the world, with attendant high morbidity, mortality, and cost to the healthcare system. Population estimates of heart failure prevalence vary between 2 and 10%, depending on the population, and rise exponentially with age [1,2]. Fifty percent or more of those with identifiable left ventricular (LV) dysfunction are asymptomatic, undiag-nosed, and presumably untreated [3-7]. Prevalence rates may be even greater in selected populations, particularly those with a very high prevalence of known risk factors for the condition, such as hypertension, myocardial ischemia, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and obesity.