Epidemiology and Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes in Europ

Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of acute heart failure (AHF) were recently published by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)1. These guidelines were published after a major European epidemiologic study was done, the Euro Heart Failure Survey Programme (EuroHF), which provided a description of clinical characteristics and management of patients hospitalized for AHF syndromes across Europe. This program was conducted in 115 hospitals in 24 countries, which have included 11,327 patients with suspected or confirmed AHF2, 3, 4. Another major European study was EFICA, Etude Francaise de l’Insuffisance Cardiaque Aigue (French Study of Acute Heart Failure), which have included 581 patients admitted to 60 intensive care units (ICUs) or coronary care units (CCU) randomly selected among French centers5. Finally, a nationwide survey on AHF syndromes in Italy was recently published. During the 3-month inclusion period, 206 cardiology centers with intensive CCUs have recruited 2807 patients6.