Acute Heart Failure: Epidemiology and Clinical Features in a local population (AHF-ECF)

Heart failure is a limiting syndrome with high worldwide prevalence that burdens the health system, especially with hospitalizations. This study was done in order to analyze the epidemiological and clinical features of patients admitted because of decompensated congestive heart failure (CHF) and identify the most common precipitating factors, comparing them with other studies. We studied 61 patients admitted with an initial diagnosis of decompensated CHF, aged 18 years or older and without an acute coronary syndrome. The mean age was 65.7 years and 54.1% were male. The mean length of stay was 12.3 days, with an in-hospital mortality rate of 11.5%. High blood pressure (HBP) was the most prevalent underlying disease (78.7%). Myocardial ischemia was the most likely etiology of CHF in 47.5% of patients. Of the patients with available echocardiogram, 82.8% had systolic dysfunction. The mean value of creatinine was higher at discharge than on admission (1.61 vs. 2.07 mg/dl; p=0,006). Were used larger doses of furosemide
at discharge compared with the hospitalization (p=0,02). Of the patients with chronic atrial fibrillation (AF), only 35.3% were using oral anticoagulants on admission. The most common identifiable cause for decompensation was non-compliance to medication. Despite the small sample, the features found are similar to those observed in large studies. There is room for the implementation of more robust disease modifying therapeutic strategies to reduce mortality and damage arising from repeated hospitalizations.