Role of Response-to-Diuretic in Predicting Prognosis in Discharged Heart Failure Patients After an Acute Decompensation

Background The diuretic response has been shown to be a robust independent marker of cardiovascular outcomes in acute heart failure (ADHF) patients. The objectives of this clinical research, will aim are to: a) include diuresis in the formula for diuretic response (R-to-D); b) add to R-to-D the value of a pre-discharged determination of galectin-3 and BNP in predicting mid-term clinical outcome. Methods Consecutive patients discharged alive after an ADHF were enrolled. All patients underwent BNP and galectin-3, a 6 min walk test and an echocardiogram together with diuresis and body weight during diuretic administration. Death by any cause, cardiac transplantation and worsening HF requiring readmission to the hospital were considered cardiovascular events. Results 141 patients (98 males, age 73.8) were analysed (follow-up 17 months). During the follow-up 45 (31.9%) events were scheduled (19 cardiac deaths, 26 re-hospitalisation for HF). Patients who experienced CV-event had a worst renal function ( p  = 0.003), an higher BNP ( p  = 0.006) and galectin-3 ( p  = 0.008). At multivariate analysis, only R-to-D, galectin-3 and BNP showed a significant correlation with worst clinical prognosis (respectively p  = 0.043; OR 6.01; p  = 0.01; OR 8.9; p  = 0.02 OR 10.38), independently of age and renal function. Kaplan-Meier curves depicted a powerful stratification using an R-to-D p  = 0.0009). Adding R-to-D 17.6 pg/mL and BNP>500 pg/mL the predictive value improved (log rank 23.59; p  = 0.0001). Conclusion Adding R-to-D to Gal-3 and BNP, a single pre-discharge strategy testing seemed to obtain a satisfactorily predictive value in alive HF patients discharged after an ADHF episode.