What Is The Prognosis For Heart Failure Patients?

— -- Question: What is the prognosis for heart failure patients?

Answer: Heart failure is a very serious condition. And in general, the overall likelihood of survival at five years is that about 40 percent of patients with serious heart failure will be alive at four years. However, heart failure is extremely, widely varied in terms of its prognosis depending on many things. And so that number I just gave you is not necessarily for everybody, it's just a broad number.

So, for example, if you're older, if you have more serious symptoms of heart failure, or depending on the reason for your heart failure -- if you have blockages in your arteries that are causing the heart failure -- your prognosis may be worse than somebody else. And so the prognosis will vary tremendously depending on whether you have symptoms, depending on your age and depending on the severity and the etiology for your heart failure.