Risk Stratification for In-Hospital Mortality in Acutely Decompensated Heart Failure<SUBTITLE>Classification and Regression Tree Analysis</SUBTITLE>

Abstract

EART FAILURE CAUSES CONsiderable morbidity and mortality and is responsible for a tremendous burden on the health care system in the United States. 1 It accounted for approximately 1 million hospital discharges in 2001, an increase of 164% since 1979, and is associated with an overall annual cost of nearly $29 billion. 1 Reported in-hospital mortality ranges from as low as 2.3% among patients enrolled in clinical trials to 19% in referral hospital series. 2,3espite this dramatic increase in the public health burden of hospitalization for heart failure, models for the risk stratification of patients during admission for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) are not well established.Clinical risk prediction tools may be helpful in guiding medical decision making.Patients estimated to be at a lower risk may be managed with less intensive monitoring and therapies available on a telemetry unit or hospital ward, whereas a patient estimated to be at a higher risk may require more intensive management in an intensive