title: EURObservational Research Programme: regional differences and 1-year follow-up results of the Heart Failure Pilot Survey (ESC-HF Pilot).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The ESC-HF Pilot survey was aimed to describe clinical epidemiology and 1-year outcomes of outpatients and inpatients with heart failure (HF). The pilot phase was also specifically aimed at validating structure, performance, and quality of the data set for continuing the survey into a permanent Registry.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ESC-HF Pilot study is a prospective, multicentre, observational survey conducted in 136 Cardiology Centres in 12 European countries selected to represent the different health systems across Europe. All outpatients with HF and patients admitted for acute HF on 1 day per week for eight consecutive months were included. From October 2009 to May 2010, 5118 patients were included: 1892 (37%) admitted for acute HF and 3226 (63%) patients with chronic HF. The all-cause mortality rate at 1 year was 17.4% in acute HF and 7.2% in chronic stable HF. One-year hospitalization rates were 43.9% and 31.9%, respectively, in hospitalized acute and chronic HF patients. Major regional differences in 1-year mortality were observed that could be explained by differences in characteristics and treatment of the patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ESC-HF Pilot survey confirmed that acute HF is still associated with a very poor medium-term prognosis, while the widespread adoption of evidence-based treatments in patients with chronic HF seems to have improved their outcome profile. Differences across countries may be due to different local medical practice as well to differences in healthcare systems. This pilot study also offered the opportunity to refine the organizational structure for a long-term extended European network.
authors.affiliation: ANMCO Research Center, Florence, Italy. maggioni@anmco.it
authors.forename: Aldo P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Maggioni
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dahlström
authors.forename: Gerasimos
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Filippatos
authors.forename: Ovidiu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chioncel
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crespo Leiro
authors.forename: Jaroslaw
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Drozdz
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fruhwald
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gullestad
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Logeart
authors.forename: Gianna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fabbri
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Urso
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Metra
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parissis
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ponikowski
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rauchhaus
authors.forename: Adriaan A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Voors
authors.forename: Olav Wendelboe
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Faiez
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zannad
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tavazzi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents
keywords: Acute heart failure; Chronic heart failure; Observational studies; Pharmacological treatments; Prognosis