Diastolic Dysfunction in Women

Abstract

Not surprisingly, approximately half of the nearly 5 million people in the United States who have congestive heart failure (CHF) are women. Between 1985 and 1995, the number of hospitalizations for patients with heart failure increased from 1.7 to 2.6 million, and more than half of these patients were women. More than 500,000 new cases of CHF occur every year, and this disorder accounts for a major and ever-increasing number of hospitalizations. The aging population plays a significant role in this upswing. Improvements in survival, resulting from an array of new treatments, has resulted in more patients living longer with (often) more extensive disease. Thus, increasing the development of CHF in patients who previously would not have survived. Advances in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction, such as thrombolytic therapy and urgent angioplasty, have allowed more patients to survive what may have been a terminal event in the past. The aggressive use of hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and the treatment of lethal arrythmias with implantable defibrillators have also contributed to the growing number of patients with symptomatic CHF and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.