Abdominal circumference and recurrent hospitalizations may affect the clinical outcome of patients with acute heart failure

BACKGROUND: In patients with heart failure, low body mass index has been associated with increased mortality. The hypothesis for the present study was that asymptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) could have an effect on the in-hospital mortality of patients admitted with acute heart failure. METHODS: The effect of PAD (documented by ankle-brachial index [ABI]) on in-hospital mortality was examined among 143 patients who were admitted with acute heart failure (mean [± SD] age 75±12 years; 76 women and 67 men). The mean body mass index was 29.5±7.4 kg/m², the mean ABI was 0.9±0.2 and the mean abdominal circumference was 107.7±22.5 cm. RESULTS: Nine patients died (one man and eight women; P=0.02). Forty patients had PAD (documented by an ABI of lower than 0.9); among them, five patients (12.5%) died, while among the 103 patients who did not have PAD (ABI of 0.9 or greater), four patients (3.9%) died (P=0.05). No statistically significant difference was observed in the body mass index of patients who died compared with those who survived (27.14±7.93 kg/m² versus 29.79±7.56 kg/m², respectively) (P=0.38). Patients who died had a lower abdominal circumference (94.87±26.96 cm versus 109.25±20.29 cm) (P=0.05). Recurrent hospitalizations were more prevalent among patients who died (six patients were readmitted and four of them died [66%], while only five patients died among 133 patients who were not rehospitalized [3.8%]; P=0.001). In a multiple regression analysis, abdominal circumference and rehospitalization had an independent impact on in-hospital mortality, while PAD did not. CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital mortality of patients admitted with acute heart failure is dependent on abdominal circumference and recurrent hospitalizations. PAD does not affect the in-hospital clinical outcome.