Usefulness of serum albumin concentration for in-hospital risk stratification in frail, elderly patients with acute heart failure. Insights from a prospective, monocenter study

The present study examined the usefulness of serum albumin concentration measured immediately after clinical stabilization for in-hospital risk stratification in 64 consecutive elderly, institutionalized patients with definite evidence of acute heart failure, of whom 17 died during their in-hospital stay. Serum albumin concentration was a powerful predictor of in-hospital death in this clinical setting (hazard ratio of 0.80 [0.71-0.89], p<0.001). A serum albumin concentration of <3 g/dl (median value) had a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 68% for the prediction of in-hospital mortality. Furthermore, this biomarker was able to provide incremental prognostic information over usual prognostic variables obtained at presentation such as age, systolic blood pressure and blood urea nitrogen. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.