Prognostic Value of Self-Reported Subjective Exercise Capacity in Patients With Acute Dyspnea.

Background: Self-reported exercise capacity is a well-established prognostic measure in stable ambulatory patients with cardiac and pulmonary disease.

Objectives: The authors aimed to directly compare the prognostic accuracy of quantified self-reported exercise capacity using the Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) with the established objective disease-severity marker B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in patients presenting with acute dyspnea to the emergency department.

Methods: The DASI was obtained in a prospective multicenter diagnostic study recruiting unselected patients presenting with acute dyspnea to the emergency department.

Quantifying inflammation using interleukin-6 for improved phenotyping and risk stratification in acute heart failure.

Aims: Systemic inflammation may be central in the pathophysiology of acute heart failure (AHF). We aimed to assess the possible role of systemic inflammation in the pathophysiology, phenotyping, and risk stratification of patients with AHF.

Methods And Results: Using a novel Interleukin-6 immunoassay with unprecedented sensitivity (limit of detection 0.