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This study aims to describe baseline characteristics and in-hospital management of a patient cohort hospitalized with acute heart failure (AHF). Adult patients in Denmark admitted with a medical diagnosis during a 7-day period were reviewed for symptoms and clinical findings suggestive of AHF. HFpEF was defined as LVEF ≥ 45%. Of 5194 patients, 290 (6%) had AHF. Sixty-two percent (n = 179) was diagnosed with HFpEF. Compared to HFrEF patients, HFpEF patients were more often women (48% vs. 31%, p = 0.004), less likely to have ischemic heart disease (31% vs. 53%, p = 0.002) and a pacemaker/ICD (7% vs. 21%, p < 0.001/1% vs. 8%, p < 0.001). Fewer HFpEF patients received intravenous diuretics (43% vs. 73%, p < 0.001) and inotropes (2% vs. 7%, p = 0.02), while more HFpEF patients received nitro-glycerine (59% vs. 44%, p = 0.02). Intubation/NIV, ICU admission, and revascularization were used similarly. Hospitalization was shorter for HFpEF patients (4 vs. 6 days, p < 0.001), with no significant difference in survival to discharge (96% vs. 91%, p = 0.07). Of AHF admissions, nearly two-thirds was due to HFpEF. Compared to HFrEF, HFpEF patients had a lower cardiac comorbidity and a 2-day shorter hospitalization., This study aims to describe baseline characteristics and in-hospital management of a patient cohort hospitalized with acute heart failure (AHF). Adult patients in Denmark admitted with a medical diagnosis during a 7-day period were reviewed for symptoms and clinical findings suggestive of AHF. HFpEF was defined as LVEF ≥ 45%. Of 5194 patients, 290 (6%) had AHF. Sixty-two percent (n = 179) was diagnosed with HFpEF. Compared to HFrEF patients, HFpEF patients were more often women (48% vs. 31%, p = 0.004), less likely to have ischemic heart disease (31% vs. 53%, p = 0.002) and a pacemaker/ICD (7% vs. 21%, p < 0.001/1% vs. 8%, p < 0.001). Fewer HFpEF patients received intravenous diuretics (43% vs. 73%, p < 0.001) and inotropes (2% vs. 7%, p = 0.02), while more HFpEF patients received nitro-glycerine (59% vs. 44%, p = 0.02). Intubation/NIV, ICU admission, and revascularization were used similarly. Hospitalization was shorter for HFpEF patients (4 vs. 6 days, p < 0.001), with no significant difference in survival to discharge (96% vs. 91%, p = 0.07). Of AHF admissions, nearly two-thirds was due to HFpEF. Compared to HFrEF, HFpEF patients had a lower cardiac comorbidity and a 2-day shorter hospitalization. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Background and In the Partial Oral Treatment of Endocarditis (POET) trial, stabilized patients with left-sided infective endocarditis (IE) were Aims randomized to oral step-down antibiotic therapy (PO) or conventional continued intravenous antibiotic treatment (IV), showing non-inferiority after 6 months. In this study, the first guideline-driven clinical implementation of the oral step-down POET regimen was examined. Methods Patients with IE, caused by Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus spp. or coagulase-negative staphylococci diagnosed between May 2019 and December 2020 were possible candidates for initiation of oral step-down antibiotic therapy, at the discretion of the treating physician. The composite primary outcome in patients finalizing antibiotic treatment consisted of embolic events, unplanned cardiac surgery, relapse of bacteraemia and all-cause mortality within 6 months. Results A total of 562 patients [median age 74 years (IQR, interquartile range, 65–80), 70% males] with IE were possible candidates; PO was given to 240 (43%) patients and IV to 322 (57%) patients. More patients in the IV group had IE caused by S. aureus, or had an intra-cardiac abscess, or a pacemaker and more were surgically treated. The primary outcome occurred in 30 (13%) patients in the PO group and in 59 (18%) patients in the IV group (P = .051); in the PO group, 20 (8%) patients died vs. 46 (14%) patients in the IV group (P = .024). PO-treated patients had a shorter median length of stay [PO 24 days (IQR 17–36) vs. IV 43 days (IQR 32–51), P < .001]. Conclusions After clinical implementation of the POET regimen almost half of the possible candidates with IE received oral step-down antibiotic therapy. Patients in the IV group had more serious risk factors for negative outcomes. At 6-month follow-up, there was a numerically but not statistically significant difference towards a lower incidence of the primary outcome, a lower incidence of all-cause morta

AIMS: Remote dielectric sensing (ReDS) enables quick estimation of lung fluid content. To examine if ReDS is superior to other methods in detecting acute heart failure.METHODS AND RESULTS: We included consecutive patients with dyspnoea from the emergency departments at Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, and performed ReDS, low-dose chest computed tomography (CT), echocardiogram, lung ultrasound, NT-Pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and a Boston score evaluation (chest X-ray and clinical signs). ReDS values >35% were used as a cut-off to diagnose pulmonary congestion. Acute heart failure was adjudicated by experts' review of health records but independently of ReDS values. Sub-analyses investigated ReDS in acute heart failure patients with congestion on CT. We included 97 patients within a median of 4.8 h from admittance: 25 patients (26%) were ReDS-positive and 39 (40%) had adjudicated acute heart failure (21 with and 18 without CT congestion). Heart failure patients had median ReDS 33%, left ventricular ejection fraction 48%, and NT-proBNP 2935 ng/L. A positive ReDS detected heart failure with 46% sensitivity, 88% specificity, and 71% accuracy. The AUC for ReDS was like the Boston score (P = 0.88) and the lung ultrasound score (P = 0.74). CT-congested heart failure patients had higher ReDS values than patients without heart failure (median 38 vs. 28%, P < 0.001). Heart failure patients without CT-congestion had ReDS values like patients without heart failure (mean 30 vs. 28%, P = 0.07).CONCLUSION: ReDS detects acute heart failure similarly to the Boston score and lung ultrasound score, and ReDS primarily identifies the acute heart failure patients who have congestion on a chest CT.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring of microbiological cause of infective endocarditis (IE) remains key in the understanding of IE; how-ever, data from large, unselected cohorts are sparse. We aimed to examine temporal changes, patient characteristics, and in-hospital and long-term mortality, according to microbiological cause in patients with IE from 2010 to 2017. METHODS AND RESULTS: Linking Danish nationwide registries, we identified all patients with first-time IE. In-hospital and long-term mortality rates were assessed according to microbiological cause and compared using multivariable adjusted logistic re-gression analysis and Cox proportional hazard analysis, respectively. A total of 4123 patients were included. Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequent cause (28.1%), followed by Streptococcus species (26.0%), Enterococcus species (15.5%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (6.2%), and “other microbiological causes” (5.3%). Blood culture–negative IE was regis-tered in 18.9%. The proportion of blood culture–negative IE declined during the study period, whereas no significant changes were seen for any microbiological cause. Patients with Enterococcus species were older and more often had a prosthetic heart valve compared with other causes. For Streptococcus species IE, in-hospital and long-term mortality (median follow-up, 2.3 years) were 11.1% and 58.5%, respectively. Compared with Streptococcus species IE, the following causes were associated with a higher in-hospital mortality: S aureus IE (odds ratio [OR], 3.48 [95% CI, 2.74–4.42]), Enterococcus species IE (OR, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.11–1.97]), coagulase-negative staphylococci IE (OR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.21–2.65]), “other microbiological cause” (OR, 1.47 [95% CI, 0.95–2.27]), and blood culture–negative IE (OR, 1.99 [95% CI, 1.52–2.61]); and the following causes were associated with higher mortality following discharge (median follow-up, 2.9 years): S aureus IE (hazard ratio [HR], 1.39 [95% CI, 1.19–1.62]), Enterococcus species