European Markets for Cardiovascular Diagnostics, 2000-2005

Despite scientific advancement in the understanding and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD), this disease remains the number one health problem in the major European countries covered in this report. Cumulatively, more than 27% of all adults in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom (U.K.) are afflicted with one or several types of CVD.

According to available statistics, the death rate of CVD in European countries has declined by 45% to 70% over the past two decades due to improvement in cardiovascular diagnostics and surgical and intravascular interventions. Despite this drastic decline, estimated combined deaths from CVD in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. exceeded 1.2 million in 1998, which represented over 42% of total deaths in these countries.

Cardiovascular diseases also impose a heavy socioeconomic burden on European healthcare systems. In the five largest European countries, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, a total of $110 to $115 billion is spent annually for the management of cardiovascular disorders. Of this total, approximately $40 billion is spent for treating coronary heart disease, more than $15 billion for stroke, $12 billion for hypertensive disease, and approximately $8 billion for congestive heart failure. A significant portion of these expenditures is associated with the techniques that are used to diagnose CVD, such as electrocardiography (ECG), noninvasive imaging, and intravascular examinations.

This report investigates these dynamic markets as well as the cardiovascular conditions that precipitate the diagnostic modalities needed for the treatment of these disorders. Information on point-of-care diagnostics of cardiovascular disease is further discussed in the Medical Data International report, U.S. Markets for Point-of-Care Diagnostics, 1999-2004, #RP-481354, November 1999.