Loading...
The decision to admit a patient who presents to the emergency department (ED) with acute heart failure is highly subjective. To derive and validate a model for use in the ED to predict heart failure mortality at 7 days, Canadian researchers studied 12,591 patients (mean age, 75) at 86 hospitals. Half the patients had histories of coronary artery disease, and 30% presented with atrial flutter or fibrillation. Sixty percent of patients were included in the derivation model, and the rest were in the validation model. Data used in the model included variables readily available in an ED setting; hence, left ventricular function was excluded.
Thirty-seven variables were evaluated for inclusion; the final model included age; systolic blood pressure…