Comparison of ultrafiltration, nesiritide, and usual care in acute decompensated heart failure.

To study the short-term effects of initial treatment strategies for acute decompensated heart failure, 25 patients treated with ultrafiltration (UF) were retrospectively compared with 25 patients treated with usual care (UC) and 25 patients treated with UC plus adjunctive nesiritide infusion (UN), matched for age, sex, ejection fraction, etiology, and serum creatinine. The median length of hospitalization was 6 days for UF, 4 days for UC, and 6 days for UN. All-cause 30-day readmissions tended to be fewer in the UF (16%) compared with the UN (24%) or UC (24%) groups.