Background:Acute heart failure (AHF) is a life-threatening condition
that necessitates urgent evaluation and treatment with an urgent need for hospital
admission. Among the available imaging modalities, echocardiography is the method
of choice due to its feasibility and cost-effectiveness. Lung ultrasonography in
emergency department, critical and cardiac care units is becoming popular. The
present study aimed to assess the value of the focused echocardiography and lung
ultrasound protocol for guiding treatment and its effect on the hospitalization
period in AHF patients admitted to the CCU, 6 months re-hospitalization and mortality. Methods: This study included 40 consecutive
patients admitted to the Cardiology and Angiology department after disposition
from the emergency department at Alexandria main university hospital in Egypt with
the diagnosis of (AHF). Patients were divided into 2 groups, 20 patients received
the standard treatment while the other group received
a modification of medication doses according to daily imaging changes. All
patients were followed up for 6 months to assess the 6 months HF rehospitalization and death rates. Results: Group
II patients had a significantly shorter duration of hospitalization; 6.45 ± 2.01
days compared to 9.10 ± 3.82 days among group I patients (P = 0.02). There
was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the 6 months rehospitalization
and death rates. Conclusion: The focused
echocardiography and lung ultrasound-guided therapy for AHF patients resulted in a shorter duration of hospitalization
without increased adverse events.
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