094 Epidemiological profile, management and outcome of 1200 patients with chronic heart failure

Introduction Heart failure (HF) remains a frequent reason for admission and readmission to hospital and therefore represents a major public health burden. The aim of our study is to report the experience of our therapeutic unit of heart failure (TUHF), the epidemiological profile, the management and the outcome of 1200 patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Material and methods The study included 1200 patients, admitted in the TUHF from May 2006 to February 2010. We included all patients with (CHF) symptomatic class II, III, or IV. All patients were evaluated clinically with monitoring of blood pressure, 6 min walk test and electrocardiogram. Two-dimensional echocardiography and laboratory tests were performed in all patients. Results The mean age of our patients was 64.82 ± 12.14 years (16–100), 75% were men. Hypertension was the most frequently cardiovascular risk factor (26%) followed by smoking (22%) and diabetes (21%). Patients were mainly in NYHA class II (58%), and 27% were in NYHA class III. The average of 6 minute walk test was 121.36 ± 92.74 m (10 – 630). The mean heart rate at admission was 81.13 ± 17.24 bpm. More than half of our patients had an LVEF 50%. Ischemic (55.67%) and hypertensive heart disease (2.67%) remain the two most frequent etiology. Regarding treatment; 78.33% of our patients were treated with beta-blockers, 89.08%with Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), 50.75% with spironolactone, and 12.75% with diuretics. Resynchronization has been performed in two patients. The optimal medical treatment has allowed a significant improvement in NYHA functional class: NYHA class II (20% vs. 58%, P = 0.037), NYHA class III (5% vs 27%, P = 0.002), a significant improvement in test 6 min walk (121.36 vs 465.66 m, P = 0.0001), and a significant reduction in heart rate from 80.13 bpm to 63.12 bpm (P  Conclusion The creating of TUHF in our department has allowed an improving of the quality of care and an optimization of the treatment.