Clinical characteristics, risk factors and treatment outcome of acute heart failure patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Acute Heart failure is associated with high mortality and re-hospitalization rates. Clinical severity and in-hospital trajectory are determined by the complex interplay between precipitants, the underlying cardiac substrate, and the patient’s comorbidities. Objective To determine predictors of outcome of acute heart failure and to characterize clinical profile, risk factors and identify predictors of poor outcome. Methods A facility based cross sectional study. All medical records of Heart failure patients age of 14 years and above who visited the adult emergency department of study hospital between 1st of March, 2023 and end of December, 2023. Data from 161 eligible medical records were collected on a structured questionnaire adopted from standard Heart failure registries. Results Females were (N = 84, 52.2%) of the study population, the mean age was 41.4. Those with age of 40 and below were the majority of the population (N = 84, 52.2%). The most common primary etiology of Heart failure was Rheumatic Heart disease (N = 77, 47.8%), followed by ischemic heart disease (N = 37, 22.9%) and dilated cardiomyopathy (N = 15, 9.3%). In hospital mortality was 14.3%. Reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, worsening renal function and hyponatremia were predictors of mortality. Conclusion In hospital mortality was strongly associated with worsening renal function and hyponatremia and left ventricular ejection fraction less than 50%.