Hyperuricemia treatment in acute heart failure patients does not improve their long-term prognosis: A propensity score matched analysis from the AHEAD registry.

Background: Hyperuricemia is associated with a poorer prognosis in heart failure (HF) patients. Benefits of hyperuricemia treatment with allopurinol have not yet been confirmed in clinical practice. The aim of our work was to assess the benefit of allopurinol treatment in a large cohort of HF patients.

Positive influence of being overweight/obese on long term survival in patients hospitalised due to acute heart failure.

Background: Obesity is clearly associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates. However, in patients with acute heart failure (AHF), an increased BMI could represent a protective marker. Studies evaluating the "obesity paradox" on a large cohort with long-term follow-up are lacking.

Embolus entrapped in patent foramen ovale: impending paradoxical embolism.

An impending paradoxical embolism is a rare finding, with fewer than 200 cases being documented so far. A 68-year-old woman, who presented with 3 weeks of increasing exertional dyspnea and exercise intolerance, underwent transesophageal echocardiography with a finding of an embolus in both right and left atria. At an emergent cardiac surgery, a worm-shaped, 5-cm-long thrombus was found in the right atrium, it was protruding to left atrium through the foramen ovale.

[Catheter related septic central venous thrombosis of the superior vena cava and right atrium].

Catheter related septic central venous thrombosis (CR-SCVT) is an uncommon but serious complication related to central venous catheter use. Prolonged sepsis, late detection of the right diagnosis, difficult, long and costly treatment (and its own complications) threaten patients with further, potentially lethal complications. By the patients with an evidence of catheter sepsis, which persists despite targeted antibiotic therapy, it is important to think of this possible complication.

Impact of antecedent hypertension on outcomes in patients hospitalized with severe forms of acute heart failure.

Objective: Even though several studies described a positive influence of elevated initial blood pressure on the outcome in acute heart failure (AHF), data specifically addressed to a population with severe AHF associated with antecedent hypertension, regardless of admission blood pressure values, are missing.

Methods And Results: From the 4153 consecutive patients enrolled in the Czech AHF registry we selected 1343 patients who suffered from pulmonary oedema or cardiogenic shock and compared them according to the presence of antecedent hypertension. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, treatment profiles and mortality rates were assessed and predictors of short- and long-term outcome were identified.

Risk of in-hospital mortality identified according to the typology of patients with acute heart failure: classification tree analysis on data from the Acute Heart Failure Database-Main registry.

Purpose: The purposes of this study are to identify the strongest clinical parameters in relation to in-hospital mortality, which are available in the earliest phase of the hospitalization of patients, and to create an easy tool for the early identification of patients at risk.

Materials And Methods: The classification and regression tree analysis was applied to data from the Acute Heart Failure Database-Main registry comprising patients admitted to specialized cardiology centers with all syndromes of acute heart failure. The classification model was built on derivation cohort (n = 2543) and evaluated on validation cohort (n = 1387).

Baseline characteristics and hospital mortality in the Acute Heart Failure Database (AHEAD) Main registry.

Introduction: The prognosis of patients hospitalized with acute heart failure (AHF) is poor and risk stratification may help clinicians guide care. The objectives of the Acute Heart Failure Database (AHEAD) registry are to assess patient characteristics, etiology, treatment and outcome of AHF.

Methods: The AHEAD main registry includes patients hospitalized for AHF in seven centers with a Catheterization Laboratory Service in the Czech Republic.