Elevated serum uric acid concentration at discharge confers additive prognostic value in elderly patients with acute heart failure

none11noBackground and aims: Elevated serum uric acid (sUA) concentrations have been associated with worse prognosis in heart failure (HF) but little is known about elderly patients. We aimed to assess long-term additive prognostic value of sUA in elderly patients hospitalized for HF. Methods and results: Clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of 310 consecutive elderly patients hospitalized for HF were collected. During index period, 206 had sUA concentrations available, which were obtained within 24 h prior to discharge; 10 patients were lost to follow-up, leaving 196 patients available. Patients had a median age of 77 (IQR 69–83) years, and were mostly male (64.5%). sUA ranges for tertiles I–III were: 1.5–6.1, 6.2–8.3, and 8.4–18.9 mg/dl, respectively. During a median follow-up of 27 months (IQR 10.5–39.5), 122 combined events occurred (87 deaths and 73 HF rehospitalizations). Four-year event-free survival for the combined endpoint was 46 ± 7% for tertile I, 34 ± 7% for tertile II, and 21 ± 5% for tertile III (P = 0.001). By multivariable Cox backward analysis, sUA was retained as a significant predictor. Compared with the lowest sUA tertile, tertile III showed a strong association with outcome, also after adjustment for other predictors (HR 1.84, 95% CI 1.16–2.93; P = 0.01). Importantly, addition of sUA to the other significant predictors of outcome resulted in improved risk classification (net reclassification improvement 0.19, P = 0.017). Conclusions: High sUA at discharge is a strong predictor of adverse outcome in elderly hospitalized for HF, and it significantly improves risk classification. Measuring sUA can be a simple and useful tool to identify high-risk elderly hospitalized for HF.noneCoiro, S.; Carluccio, E.; Biagioli, P.; Alunni, G.; Murrone, A.; D'Antonio, A.; Zuchi, C.; Mengoni, A.; Girerd, N.; Borghi, C.; Ambrosio, G.*Coiro, S.; Carluccio, E.; Biagioli, P.; Alunni, G.; Murrone, A.; D'Antonio, A.; Zuchi, C.; Mengoni, A.; Girerd, N.; Borghi, C.; Ambrosio, G.