Abstract
Objective: The method for assessing nutritional status of heart failure (HF) patients has not been fully established yet. Controlling nutritional status (CONUT) using two biochemical parameters (serum albumin and cholesterol level) and one immune indicator (total lymphocyte count) allows a daily assessment of nutritional status of all inpatients. This study aimed to clarify whether CONUT was useful for predicting short-term prognosis in acute HF patients.
Subjects and methods: This study was conducted on 38 patients with acute HF who were admitted to the St. Marianna University School of Medicine Yokohama City Seibu Hospital. Nutritional status was assessed using CONUT and blood samples were collected on admission. The relationships between CONUT scores and parameters associated with short-term prognosis were investigated.
Results: Of the study patients, 36 patients (95%) were identified as having mild to severe nutritional disturbances. The CONUT scores were significantly higher in the acute HF patients with infectious disease than those without infectious disease (p=0.02). The patients with higher CONUT scores tended to have longer hospital stay (p=0.02). Of note, the CONUT scores were significantly lower in the patients who could leave the hospital after alleviating HF symptoms (p=0.02).
Conclusions: This study result suggests that many acute HF patients might have some degree of nutritional disturbances. CONUT provides an early screening of nutritional disturbance and effectively predicts short-term prognosis in acute HF patients.
