title: The role of echocardiography in the management of patients with congestive heart failure. "Tanzanian experience".
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the usefulness of echocardiography in managing patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and identify risks of mortality and heart failure re-admissions during follow up.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive prospective hospital based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Muhimbili National Hospital and Hindul Mandal Hospital in Dares Salaam, Tanzania.
  
  
  METHODS
  360 patients (198 male and 162 female) admitted due to congestive heart failure had echocardiography done.
  
  
  METHODS
  Identifying and characterizing echocardiographic features specific for evaluating patients with congestive heart failure. The patients were followed up for at leas one year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  122 patients had normal left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and 238 patients had reduced left ventricular fraction. Patients with normal LVEF tended to be older and female and were more likely to have a history of hypertension whereas patients with reduced LVEF had a longer history of heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy or valvular heart disease. Seventy nine patients (21.9%) died. Patients with depressed ejection fraction had a higher death rate during follow up as compared with preserved ejection fraction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We had demonstrated that echocardiography is a useful non-invasive tool for assessing patients with CHF due to systolic or diastolic dysfunction.
authors: Muhimbili University of Health Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
authors: E E
authors: EE
authors: Maro
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Kaushik
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology; D015996:Survival Rate; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left