Renal Failure Is an Independent Predictor of Mortality in Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients and Is Associated With a Worse Cardiovascular Risk Profile

Most clinical trials that demonstrated the negative impact of renal failure on survival in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) included a relatively small proportion of subjects with a high creatinine level and were performed in patients with depressed left ventricular systolic function. Our aim was to investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of hospitalized CHF patients with depressed or preserved systolic function and different degrees of renal dysfunction. The study included 552 consecutive CHF patients admitted to a hospital department of cardiology between 2000–2002. Renal function was determined from the estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and patients were divided into three groups: GFR>60, GFR 30–60, and GFR>30 mL/min per 1.73 m2 (severe renal failure), containing 56.5%, 35.5%, and 8.0% of patients, respectively. Patients with severe renal failure had the worst cardiovascular risk profile: older age, higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, anemia, inflammatory markers in plasma, and less prescription of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. Survival in this patient group was significantly poorer than in other groups (relative risk or RR=2.4; 95% CI, 1.3–4.4) in those with either depressed (RR=3.8; 95% CI, 1.4–10.6) or preserved (RR=2.9; 95% CI, 1.2–6.9) systolic function, independent of other prognostic factors. The negative impact of severe renal failure on prognosis was reduced by ACE inhibitor use. Renal failure is common and a strong predictor of mortality in hospitalized CHF patients with or without depressed systolic function. It is associated with a worse risk profile. El impacto negativo de la insuficiencia renal (IR) en la supervivencia de los pacientes con insuficiencia cardiaca congestiva (ICC) se ha descrito en ensayos clinicos realizados, principalmente, en pacientes con función sistólica deprimida (FS-D). El objetivo es valorar las caracteristicas clinicas y el pronóstico en pacientes hospitalizados por ICC y diferentes grados de dis-función renal en los grupos con FS-D y función sistólica preservada (FS-P). Se analizó a 552 pacientes ingre-sados entre el año 2000 y el 2002 en el servicio de cardiologia con ICC. La función renal se valoró utilizando la tasa de filtración glomerular (TFG) y se consideraron 3 grupos TFG > 60, 30–60 y < 30 ml/min/1,73 m 2 (IR grave) presente en el 56,5, el 35,5 y el 8,0% de los pacientes, respecti-vamente. La IR grave se asoció con el perfil de riesgo ca