Renal function at admission as a prognostic marker for patients hospitalised for a first episode of heart failure. Results of the PREDICE study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Heart failure (HF) is a frequent condition that deteriorates quality of life and results in high morbidity and mortality. A considerable number of studies have been implemented in recent years to determine the factors that affect the prognosis of HF; however, few studies have assessed the prognosis of patients hospitalised for their first episode of HF. The aim of our study was to analyse the prognostic impact of renal function on patients hospitalised for a first episode of HF.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We recruited 600 patients hospitalised for a first episode of HF in 3 tertiary Spanish hospitals. We analysed the mortality risk during the first year of follow-up according to renal function at the time of admission.

RESULTS

The patients with the highest degree of kidney failure at admission were older (P<.001), were more often women (p=.01) and presented a higher degree of dependence (P<.05), as well as a higher prevalence of arterial hypertension (P<.001), chronic renal failure (P<.001) and anaemia (P<.001). In the multivariate analysis, the degree of kidney failure at admission remained an independent predictor of increased mortality risk during the first year of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of kidney failure at admission was a marker of poor prognosis in our cohort of patients hospitalised for a first episode of HF.