Heart failure is a common and costly clinical entity that implies high morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to establish the impact of the heart failure syndrome in our country. We analyzed: 1) the data-base of vital statistics from the National Program of Health Statistics, Ministry of Health, between 1980 and 1997, 2) the registers from two national surveys on heart failure patients performed by the Argentine Society of Cardiology and the Argentine Council of Residents in Cardiology. Cardiovascular syndromes have constituted the first cause of death in our country for the last twenty years. Among these, heart failure represents the most frequent entity. From 1980 to 1997 a progressive reduction of 31% in the rate of cardiovascular mortality was observed. From 1990 to 1997, a decrease in the mortality rate due to heart failure of 22.4% was registered. Age and sex adjusted mortality from heart failure suffered a steady increase in older groups, specially above 65 years of age. Hospital discharge data showed that heart failure and cerebrovascular illness are the highest prevalent entities. National surveys on heart failure demonstrate a high prevalence of hypertension, as an associated risk factor, and non compliance with the medication and diet as causes of decompensation. A trend towards an increase in pharmacological prescriptions was also observed.