[A prospective study on patients with heart failure admitted to the internal medicine department]

Heart failure (HF) is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality and represents one of the most frequent causes of rehospitalization.

Prospective study on patients admitted because of HF. A data collection questionnaire was completed: cardiology history, HF etiology, reason for admission, previous treatment, treatment during and after the admission, hospital stay and complementary explorations carried out. A biweekly telephone monitoring was carried out after the discharge.

62 patients admitted because of HF with an average age of 73 +/- 11 years. The etiology of the HF was: unknown (54%), hypertensive (21.5%), valvular (15.4%), ischemic (7.3%), alcohol (1.6%). All patients received diuretic treatment, 25% angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and 6% oral anticoagulants. 51.6% showed atrial fibrillation. Echocardiogram was carried out in 10% of the patients. The average hospital stay was 6.2 +/- 3.2 days, and it was significantly higher when an echocardiogram was carried out (5.7 +/- 0.4 versus 7.55 +/- 0.9 days; p < 0.001). 6-month incidence of rehospitalization and mortality was 26% and 20% respectively.

HF implied one fourth of admissions in a population of elderly patients with multiple conditions. The etiology of the HF was not established in more than half of the patients. A suboptimal utilization of the available treatments is demonstrated. HF is associated to a high incidence of rehospitalization and mortality.