Experimental models of heart failure

Abstract

Congestive heart failure is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In the United States alone 550,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Heart failure causes approximately 40,000 deaths a year and is a contributing factor in another 225,000 deaths in the US, where the death rate attributed to heart failure rose by 148% from 1979 to 2000. Hospital discharges for CHF in the US rose from 377,000 in 1979 to 990,000 in 2000, an increase of 165% causing a substantial economic burden. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.