Prognostic Value of the PROFUND Index for 30-Day Mortality in Acute Heart Failure.

Background and Objectives: The prevalence and incidence of heart failure (HF) have been increasing in recent years as the population ages. These patients show a distinct profile of comorbidity, which makes their care more complex. In recent years, the PROFUND index, a specific tool for estimating the mortality rate at one year in pluripathology patients, has been developed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the PROFUND index and of in-hospital and 30-day mortality after discharge of patients admitted for acute heart failure (AHF). Materials and Methods: A prospective multicenter longitudinal study was performed that included patients admitted with AHF and ≥2 comorbid conditions. Clinical, analytical, and prognostic variables were collected. The PROFUND index was collected in all patients and rates of in-hospital and 30-day mortality after discharge were analyzed. A bivariate analysis was performed with quantitative variables between patients who died and those who survived at the 30-day follow-up. A logistic regression analysis was performed with the variables that obtained statistical significance in the bivariate analysis between deceased and surviving subjects. Results: A total of 128 patients were included. Mean age was 80.5 +/- 9.98 years, and women represented 51.6%. The mean PROFUND index was 5.26 +/- 4.5. The mortality rate was 8.6% in-hospital and 20.3% at 30 days. Preserved left ventricular ejection fraction was found in 60.9%. In the sample studied, there were patients with a PROFUND score < 7 predominated (89 patients (70%) versus 39 patients (31%) with a PROFUND score ≥ 7). Thirteen patients (15%) with a PROFUND score < 7 died versus the 13 (33%) with a PROFUND score ≥ 7, p = 0.03. Twelve patients (15%) with a PROFUND score < 7 required readmission versus 12 patients (35%) with a PROFUND score ≥ 7, p = 0.02. The ROC curve of the PROFUND index for in-hospital mortality and 30-day follow-up in patients with AHF showed AUC 0.63, CI: 95% (0.508-0.764), p <0.033. Conclusions: The PROFUND index is a clinical tool that may be useful for predicting short-term mortality in elderly patients with AHF. Further studies with larger simple sizes are required to validate these results.

Prognostic Significance of the PROFUND Index on One Year Mortality in Acute Heart Failure: Results from the RICA Registry.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome with high prevalence, mainly affecting elderly patients, where the presence of associated comorbidities is of great importance. Methods: An observational study from a prospective registry was conducted. Patients identified from the National Registry of Heart Failure (RICA), which belongs to the Working Group on Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), were included. The latter is a prospective, multicenter registry that has been active since 2008. It includes individual consecutive patients over 50 years of age with a diagnosis of HF at hospital discharge (acute decompensated or new-onset HF). Results: In total, 5424 patients were identified from the registry. Forty-seven percent were men and mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 51.4%; 1132 had a score of 0 to 2 according to the PROFUND index, 3087 had a score of 3 to 6, and 952 patients had a score of 7 to 10 points. In the sample, 252 patients had a score above 11 points. At the end of the year of follow-up, 61% of the patients died. This mortality increased proportionally as the PROFUND index increased, specifically 75% for patients with PROFUND greater than 11. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve shows that survival at one year progressively decreases as the PROFUND index value increases. Thus, subjects with scores greater than seven (intermediate-high and high-risk) presented the worst survival with a log rank of 0.96 and a p < 0.05. In the regression analysis, we found a higher risk of death from any cause at one year in the group with the highest risk according to the PROFUND index (score greater than 11 points (HR 1.838 (1.410−2.396)). Conclusions: The PROFUND index is a good index for predicting mortality in patients admitted for acute HF, especially in those subjects at intermediate to high risk with scores above seven. Future studies should seek to determine whether the PROFUND index score is simply a prognostic marker or whether it can also be used to make therapeutic decisions for those subjects with very high short-term mortality.

Prevalence of comorbidities and the prognostic value of the PROFUND index in a hospital cardiology unit. / Prevalencia de pluripatología y valor pronóstico del índice PROFUND en una unidad de hospitalización de Cardiología.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to understand the prevalence of comorbidities and the usefulness of the PROFUND index for the prognostic stratification of patients with comorbidities in a hospital cardiology unit. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We consecutively analysed all patients hospitalized in 2012 in the department of cardiology. We recorded the comorbidities, length of stay, hospital mortality, Charlson indices and PROFUND indices. In the patients with comorbidities, we also recorded the readmissions and mortality during a 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: The study included 1,033 patients (mean age, 67±13.1 years; 35% women), 381 (36.9%) of whom had comorbidities, with a mean Charlson index of 6.4±1.7 and a mean PROFUND index of 2.5±2.5. Compared with the other patients, the patients with comorbidities were older (72 vs. 64 years, p<.001), had a higher mortality rate (2.9% vs. 1.1%, p=.046) and longer hospital stays (8±5.5 vs. 6±5.7 days, p<.001) and were more often admitted for heart failure (42.3% vs. 15.8%, p<.001). The PROFUND index was independently associated with overall mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.13; 95% CI: 1.01-1.27; p=.034) and with the presence of major adverse events during the 12-month follow-up (HR, 1.09; 95% CI: 1.01-1.18; p=.026). CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of patients hospitalized in the department of cardiology had comorbidities. These patients had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, longer stays and greater hospital mortality. The PROFUND index independently predicted mortality and adverse events during the follow-up.