[Hospital readmission for heart failure in a general hospital]

Heart failure (HF) is the most common discharge diagnosis for admission and readmission in adult. Prior studies have reported that elderly patients who survive hospitalization for HF, are particularly vulnerable to readmission. The present study was realized to investigate the characteristics of patients with readmissions for HF and the features of this hospitalizations.

This observational study, looked for patients with two or more hospital admissions with diagnosis of HF in 1996 in Gregorio Marañón General Hospital (Madrid). From them, it was taken a random sample. Second and following admissions were studied (readmission).

There were 1561 hospitalizations for HF in 1996, being 349 second or following admissions (22.4%). After analyzing 153, it was found a 75.8% of readmissions in the first 90 days after discharge. The mean age was 77.4 +/- 10.31. More than a half were women and patients have an important comorbidity (pathologies presented more frequently were Diabetes Mellitus and airways obstructive diseases). From patients with echocardiography performed before readmission, 66.4% present left ventricular systolic dysfunction and 33.6% have normal left ventricular systolic function. The principal aetiologies were coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and hypertension (in those patients in which aetiology have been investigated).

Readmission after a hospitalization for HF is common, with a high percentage of patients readmitted in a short time. This rate demands efforts to identify patients with a higher likelihood of readmission and develop programs to clarify the determinants of this problem and thus improve it.