Acute pulmonary embolism is an independent predictor of adverse events in severe decompensated heart failure patients.

Background: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a well-recognized risk factor for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and is associated with higher mortality in patients with an acute pulmonary embolism (PE). There are very few data on how acute PE affects the clinical course of patients with heart failure. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an acute PE on the short-term prognosis of patients hospitalized for decompensated CHF.

[Heart failure mortality trend in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil].

Objective: To assess mortality trend due to heart failure (HF) in Salvador--Bahia, from 1979 to 1995.

Methods: HF was defined by notations from the 9th Review of International Disease Code (IDC9) 428.0, 428.

Incidence and clinical predictors of pulmonary embolism in severe heart failure patients admitted to a coronary care unit.

Objectives: To determine the incidence of clinical pulmonary embolism (PE) in a population with severe congestive heart failure (CHF) admitted to a coronary care unit (CCU), and to identify clinical predictors of PE in this population.

Design And Setting: Prospective, observational study performed in a CCU of a tertiary care hospital between July 2001 and March 2003.

Patients: One hundred ninety-eight patients with severe decompensated CHF.