Search

BACKGROUND: Simple tools for risk stratification of patients with acute heart failure (AHF) are an unmet clinical need particularly regarding long term mortality. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 610 consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department with AHF. The diagnosis of AHF was adjudicated by two independent cardiologists. The classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was used to develop a simple risk algorithm. This was internally validated by cross validation. RESULTS: One year follow up was complete in all patients (100). A total of 201 patients (33) died within 360 days. The CART analysis identified blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and age as the best single predictors of 1 year mortality and patients were categorised to three risk groups: high risk group (BUN >27.5 mg/dl and age >86 years) intermediate risk group (BUN >27.5 mg/dl and age = 86 years) and low risk group (BUN = 27.5 mg/dl). The Kaplan Meier curves showed a significant increase in mortality in the high risk group compared with the lower risk groups (log rank test p