[Heart failure at a large tertiary hospital of São Paulo].

Purpose: To study the incidence, main causes, aggravating factors and secondary diagnoses of heart failure (HF) during 1995 at the Instituto do Coração of São Paulo.
Methods: Data from hospitalized patients according to the PRODESP data base were analyzed. The following data were studied; age, sex, principal and secondary diagnoses, surgical procedures and mortality. To analyze the data, tables according to sex, age and main cause were built. Analysis of variance and t test were employed to verify differences between groups.
Results: In 1995, 903 out of 9620 patients were hospitalized due to HF. The majority were male (60.4%) and the patients' age was between two days and 98 years old (mean 52.6). Ischemic (32.6), dilated (25.8%) and valvar heart disease (22%) were the main causes of HF. 32.1% were submitted to correction of the HF main cause, specially those with valvar heart disease (62.3%). There was greater incidence of multiple diagnoses in aged patients. The mortality was greater in patients younger than 20 and in those older than 80 years old.
Conclusion: The incidence of HF at INCOR during 1995 was 9.38%. Ischemic myocardiopathy was the most frequent HF cause. The mortality was greater among children, probably because of heart disease complexity and, in the above-80 group due to the greater comorbidity.