Heart failure (HF) is a major public health problem in the U.S. and Europe:

• Nearly 5 million patients are diagnosed with heart failure each year in the U.S., and it is estimated that there are at least 10 million cases in Europe^1,2
• Over the last decade, the annual number of hospitalizations for HF in the U.S. as a primary diagnosis has increased from ~ 550,000 to 900,000 and from 1.7 to 2.6 million for HF as a primary or secondary diagnosis¹
• The disorder is associated with as many as 15 million office visits and 6.5 million hospital days in the U.S. each year¹
• From 1979 to 2001, CHF deaths increased 155%.³ Despite advances in treatment, nearly 300,000 Americans are estimated to die each year with HF as a primary or contributory cause¹ of death
• Half of the patients with a diagnosis of HF will die within 4 years and in patients with severe HF, more than 50% will die within 1 year ²
• The total inpatient and outpatient costs for HF in the U.S. was ~$38.1 billion in 1991, which was 5.4% of the U.S. healthcare budget¹
• For 2004, the estimated direct and indirect cost of CHF in the United States is $25.8 billion.³
• In the U.K., the total cost of heart failure to the Health Service was 628.6 million British pounds, involving over 86,000 hospital admissions⁴
• In the U.S. alone, approximately $500 million is spend on the drugs annually for the treatment of HF¹
• Heart failure is the leading cause of Medicare hospitalization in the U.S. with more Medicare dollars spent on the diagnosis and treatment of HF than for any other diagnosis.¹ In 1998, $3.6 billion was paid to Medicare beneficiaries for CHF.³

Identification of a Structural Abnormality
Evaluating the Cause of Ventricular Dysfunction
The Role of Natriuretic Peptides