Introduction: Heart failure (HF) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. A significant component of HF-related adverse outcome occurs during hospitalization. Objective. - To assess features and in-hospital outcomes of patients hospitalized for a first episode of HF.
Methods: We prospectively recruited 799 consecutive patients hospitalized for a first episode of HF during 2000 in the Somme department (France). We evaluated in-hospital mortality in this cohort, identified factors predictive for hospital death, and compared the mortality in patients with preserved or reduced ejection fraction (EF).
Results: The mean age of the study population was 75+/-12 years. EF, assessed in 662 patients (83%), was preserved (> or = 50%) in 56% of cases. During hospitalization, 64 deaths (8%) were recorded. The major causes of in-hospital death were acute pulmonary oedema (50%) and cardiogenic shock (22%). Coronary artery disease, low systolic blood pressure on admission, increased heart rate on admission, renal failure, reduced EF (<50%) and older age were identified as independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Patients with preserved EF were older and comprised a greater proportion of women. In-hospital mortality of the reduced EF group was higher than that of the preserved EF group (8.2% versus 2.7%, p=0.002). On multivariable analysis, reduced EF was independently associated with in-hospital death (odds ratio 2.32; 95% confidence interval 1.06-5.11; p=0.03). In propensity-matched patients, in-hospital mortality was higher in the reduced EF group (7.6% versus 2.2% p=0.02).
Conclusion: The in-hospital outcome of patients admitted for new-onset HF is poor. Patients with preserved EF are older but have lower in-hospital mortality.