Abstract
Background: Congestion is one of the main predictors of poor outcome in patients with heart failure (HF); thus, a simple tool to evaluate plasma volume (PV), which can be used for risk stratification of HF patients, is necessary. We sought to compare the prognostic values of commonly used formulas for the estimation of PV and relative PV status (PVS) in patients admitted with acute decompensated HF (ADHF). Methods and Results: We analyzed 384 consecutive ADHF patients who survived to discharge. The PV was calculated by 3 commonly used formulas (Strauss, Kaplan, and Hakim), and the relative PVS was calculated using the Hakim formula at both admission and discharge. The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause mortality and hospitalization for worsening HF. The secondary endpoints were pump failure death (PFD) and sudden cardiac death (SCD). During a median follow-up of 743 days, 175 patients reached the primary endpoint, 28 patients had PFD, and 20 patients had SCD. Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that among the PV indices, only the PVS values at admission and discharge were independent predictors of the primary endpoint. In addition, the PVS values at admission and discharge were independent predictors of PFD and SCD in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Among the indices of PV, the calculated PVS may be the most useful for predicting prognosis in ADHF patients.