INCREASED SOLUBLE ST2 LEVEL PREDICTS LENGTH OF STAY IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE HEART FAILURE

Introduction: The increased length of stay of patients with acute heart failure increases costs and morbidity. The association of soluble suppression of tumorigenicity-2 (ST2) levels with mortality and morbidity in patients with heart failure has been established. We investigated the relationship between ST2 levels in patients with acute decompensated heart failure and the length of stay. Materials and methods: This study included 143 patients who were hospitalized for acute decompensated heart failure. The average length of stay was 4 days. Patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 consisted of patients who stayed 4 days or less; group 2 consisted of patients who stayed more than 4 days. Results: The serum ST2 levels were greater in the group 2 as compared to the group 1 (32 ng/mL (3-68 ng/mL) versus 47 ng/mL (9-298 ng/mL) (P < 0.001). The optimal cutoff level of ST2 in the prediction of length of stay was > 39 U/mL, with a specificity of 95.8% and a sensitivity of 96% (area under the curve, 0.979; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.953-0.992). In the multivariate logistic regression model, ST2 levels of > 35 U/mL on admission (OR=10.750, 95% CI: 4.218-27.395, p<0.001), were also associated with a longer length of stay after adjustment for variables was found to be statistically significant in univariate analysis and correlated with ST2 levels. Conclusion: In our study, the ST2 levels were found to be an independent marker for the length of stay in patients with acute decompensated heart failure.