The following is a summary of “What are the Data for Current Prognostic Tools Used to Determine the Risk of Short-Term Adverse Events in Patients with Acute Heart Failure?” published in the December 2023 issue of Emergency Medicine by Long, et al.

A common disease seen in the emergency department (ED) is acute heart failure (AHF). There is a wide range of signs and symptoms, comorbidities, factors that make the condition worse, and follow-up abilities that patients may have. If there was a tool that could accurately rate the chance of near-term events, it would help decide how to treat these people.

The evidence review found six prospective studies and three retrospective cohort studies that looked at the five different risk scores below to see if they could help predict the risk of major adverse events in people with AHF: Some of the tools that have been used are the Emergency Heart Failure Mortality Risk Grade (EHMRG), the Multiple Estimation of Risk. 

Based on the Emergency Department Spanish 40 Score in Patients with an AHF Score (MEESSI-AHF), the Improving Heart Failure Risk Stratification in the ED (STRATIFY) tool, and the EHMRG at 30 days with the addition of a ST depression variable (EHMRG30-ST). From what they know so far, risk scores like the OHFRS, EHMRG, EHMRG30-ST, MEESSI-AHF, and STRATIFY can help figure out the short-term risk of bad events, but they needed to be more Along with other things, like the patient’s disease progression, hemodynamics, and ability to get follow-up care, clinicians should use these tools.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0736467923003219