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Either modeled continuously or categorically, serum potassium levels during long-term monitoring were independently associated with mortality in patients with heart failure. Likewise, persistence of abnormal potassium levels was linked to a higher risk of death in comparison with patients who maintained or returned to normal values.

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Congestion explains many of the signs and symptoms of acute heart failure (AHF) and disease progression. However, accurate quantification of congestion is challenging in daily practice. Antigen carbohydrate 125 (CA125) or mucin 16 (MUC16), a large glycoprotein synthesized by mesothelial cells, has emerged as a reliable proxy of congestion and inflammation in patients with heart failure (HF). In AHF syndromes, CA125 is strongly associated with right‐sided HF parameters and a higher risk of adverse clinical events beyond standard prognostic factors, including natriuretic peptides. Furthermore, CA125 has the potential for both monitoring and guide HF treatment following a decompensated HF event. The wide availability of CA125 in most clinical laboratories, together with its standardized measurement and reduced cost, makes this marker attractive for routine use in decompensated HF. Further research is required to understand better its biological role and its promising utility as a tool to guide decongestive therapy in HF.

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AimsEarly rehospitalization after an episode of acute heart failure (AHF) remains excessively high and its prediction a contemporary challenge. Iron deficiency (ID) is a frequent finding in AHF, but its prognostic implications remain unclear. We sought to evaluate the association between ID and risk of 30-day readmission in an unselected cohort of patients discharged for AHF. Methods and resultsSerum ferritin and transferrin saturation (TSAT) were measured before discharge in 626 consecutive patients with AHF in a single teaching centre. ID was defined as serum ferritin <100 μg/L (absolute ID) or ferritin 100-299 μg/L with a TSAT <20% (functional ID). Cox regression adapted for competing events was used to determine the association between ID and the risk of 30-day readmissions. Mean age was 73.4 ± 10.4 years, 48% were females, and 52.1% showed an LVEF >50%. ID was identified in 463 patients (74%): 302 (48.2%) as absolute ID and 161 (25.7%) as functional ID. At 30-day post-discharge, 20 (3.2%) patients died and 103 (16.5%) were readmitted. Patients with absolute ID showed an increased rate of readmission compared with those with functional ID and no ID (19.9, 13, and 13.5%, respectively, P = 0.005). In a multivariate setting, absolute ID remained associated with higher risk of readmission [hazard ratio (HR) 1.72; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-2.60, P = 0.011]. Compared with patients without ID, functional ID was not related to the risk of readmission (HR 0.87; 95% CI 0.46-1.62, P = 0.652).

The combination of long-term longitudinal trajectories of CA125 and NT-proBNP improves risk stratification for all-cause mortality after a hospitalization for AHF.