Life expectancy and prognosis of heart failure depend on several factors. These are primarily the age of the patient, the cause of the failure and the presence of other diseases. Heart failure is the result of the heart’s inability to pump enough blood to meet the body’s metabolic needs. In this situation, the heart does not adequately pump blood into the arteries. This reduces blood flow to the tissues, while the entry of blood into the heart is hindered.
There are many causes of heart failure, including myocardial, valvular or pericardial diseases, coronary artery disease, arrhythmias, and congenital heart disease. A number of factors contribute to heart failure, including age, lifestyle, and alcoholism.
Symptoms are due to reduced blood flow to organs and tissues and congestion of blood that has difficulty returning to the heart. Symptoms may occur suddenly, so the patient may need immediate hospitalization. Other times, symptoms develop slowly.
The first symptoms of heart failure are usually the result of blood congestion in the organs and tissues. Thus, when blood stagnates in the lung, pulmonary edema occurs and the patient has difficulty breathing and coughing. Congestion in the lower extremities leads to edema, mainly in the legs and feet. Congestion in the abdomen leads to an enlarged liver, spleen, and abdominal distension due to fluid accumulation. When blood flow to the tissues decreases, the patient typically feels weak and dizzy.
Heart failure prognosis
Heart failure is a syndrome that can be caused by a multitude of heart diseases. Therefore, its prognosis is not homogeneous and varies depending on the cause. This makes it difficult to predict the life expectancy of a specific patient.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Western countries, and heart failure is one of them. Patients with heart failure usually deteriorate progressively until they die, although they can also suffer sudden death.
Heart failure is more common in older people, so the prognosis is also influenced by other diseases that patients tend to have at this age. The symptoms of heart failure worsen the quality of life and lead to hospitalizations, which become more frequent as the disease progresses and the patient ages.
Untreated heart failure results in very poor living conditions and a high risk of death. Patients who take care of themselves, follow proper treatment and receive regular monitoring have a significantly better quality of life and a noticeable reduction in mortality.
Modern treatments for heart failure have made it possible to reduce the incidence of sudden death, so the most common outcome is that the patient’s condition gradually deteriorates until death. The speed at which this occurs depends on the patient’s age, the number of hospital admissions and other illnesses such as kidney failure, liver failure or a history of stroke.
Statistics
It is difficult to predict the life expectancy of patients with heart failure. Risk calculators exist, but they are not very accurate due to the multitude of factors that influence the prognosis. We know that life expectancy is shortened if the patient’s symptoms worsen despite treatment and, above all, if they are admitted to hospital frequently. Death usually occurs when the patient is hospitalized.
According to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE), 17,931 people died from heart failure in 2016, 19,165 in 2017, and 19,142 in 2018. Given that the total number of deaths in Spain in 2018 was 427,721, mortality from heart failure was 4.47%, which means that around 52 Spaniards died every day from heart failure, a common cause of death.
According to INE statistics, mortality from heart failure has always been higher in women than in men. In 2018, 11,876 women died from this cause, compared to 7,266 men. But this difference is due to the greater longevity of women, since at younger ages mortality is higher in men. Thus, in 2018 there were 1,769 deaths from heart failure in men under 80 years of age, compared to 987 women.
Conclusion
Despite the many therapeutic measures introduced in the last decade, mortality from heart failure has not been reduced, mainly due to the aging of the population and concomitant diseases. It is estimated that, on average, 10% of people diagnosed with heart failure die from it every year.
The prognosis and life expectancy of patients with heart failure depend on certain factors. Mainly age, male sex, duration of the disease, severity of symptoms, and the presence of other diseases, such as diabetes, kidney failure, or major arterial disease. Therefore, it is impossible to accurately estimate the life expectancy of these people. According to various statistics, mortality due to heart failure can be 25% to 40% after 3–4 years.
In conclusion, life expectancy will be shorter the older the person is, the more severe the symptoms of heart failure are, and the patient has a history of myocardial infarction and/or significant kidney or liver failure. However, life expectancy will be longer if the patient has few symptoms, does not suffer from other major illnesses, is physically well, receives proper treatment, and has regular cardiological check-ups.
