Practical issues in improving medical management of heart failure in the elderly

Heart failure is a complex syndrome with an increasing prevalence in the elderly. The presence of multiple comorbidities and associated frailty make management of an already complex disease process more challenging. A practical and pragmatic approach is presented in this paper with regards to pharmacological interventions, the role of heart failure specialist nurses in the context of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and end-of-life care issues