Background: Heart failure (HF) is currently one of the main causes of cardiovascular mortality. In order to collect current
epidemiological data on patients with HF, the Heart Failure Pilot Survey (ESC-HF Pilot) registry was initiated.

Aim: Primary objective of the study was to compare clinical epidemiology of outpatients and inpatients with HF and investigate
currently used diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in Poland and 11 other European countries.

Methods: The ESC-HF Pilot Survey study was a prospective multicentre observational registry conducted in 2009–2011 in
136 cardiology centres in 12 European countries selected to represent different health systems and care attitudes across Europe.
All outpatients with HF and patients admitted due to acute decompensated HF were included into the registry during the
enrolment period (1 day per week for 8 consecutive months). Researchers completed detailed medical data questionnaires
for all HF patients recruited to the study.

Results: In all participating centres across Europe, 6108 patients were recruited, including 1159 patients from Poland (19% of
the survey population). The majority of Polish participants were admitted due to acute HF (73%), while ambulatory chronic
HF patients predominated in the remaining European centres (69%). Polish patients develop HF at a younger age compared
to other European countries (proportion of patients above 65 years: 54 vs. 65%, respectively) and they are more severely ill
(NYHA class III: 44 vs. 34%, respectively; NYHA class IV: 18 vs. 11%; mean BNP level 910 vs. 773 pg/mL). Angiographically
documented coronary artery disease was the major aetiology of HF in Poland (39 vs. 33%) which explains a higher rate of
invasive revascularisation procedures in the Polish population (13 vs. 7%). In Poland, therapy with implantable cardioverter-
-defibrillators was used more frequently during the initial hospitalisation (7 vs. 4%), but the rate of cardiac resynchronisation
therapy device implantation was smaller than in other European countries (4 vs. 7%). Drug therapy used in our country was
comparable to the rest of Europe, except for more frequent use of aldosterone antagonists. Despite significant differences in
the clinical characteristics seen between Polish and other European patients participating in the ESC-HF Pilot study, mortality
at 3 months did not differ between Polish and other European centres (2.5 vs. 3%).

Conclusions: The ESC-HF Pilot Survey findings indicate a very high standard of inpatient HF treatment but at the same time
unsatisfactory current ambulatory HF therapy in Poland.