Role of echocardiography in the diagnosis and management of heart failure in the elderly.

Heart failure is the most common cause of cardiovascular hospitalization in older adults in the United States. This disease is common, disabling, and commonly fatal, especially in the elderly population. Hypertension and coronary artery disease are the leading causes of heart failure. A precise diagnosis of the cardiac abnormality is paramount for adequate treatment, and echocardiography offers the most comprehensive, noninvasive evaluation. With an organized approach using two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography, the systolic and diastolic left ventricular performance can be determined; the cardiac output, pulmonary artery, and ventricular filling pressures can be estimated; and surgically correctable valve disease can be identified. The response and success of treatment also may be monitored by the judicious use of echocardiography.