In-hospital Outcomes of Aspiration Pneumonia Hospitalizations With Acute Heart Failure: A Nationwide Analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is a paucity of data regarding the impact of acute heart failure (AHF) on the outcomes of aspiration pneumonia (AP). METHODS: Using National Inpatient Sample datasets (2016 to 2019), we identified admissions for AP with AHF vs. without AHF using relevant International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes. We compared the demographics, comorbidities, and outcomes between the two groups. RESULTS: Out of the 121,097,410 weighted adult hospitalizations, 488,260 had AP, of which 13.25% (n=64,675) had AHF. The AHF cohort consisted predominantly of the elderly (mean age 80.4 vs. 71.1 years), females (47.8% vs. 42.2%), and whites (81.6% vs. 78.5%) than non-AHF cohort (all p<0.001). Complicated diabetes and hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, chronic pulmonary disease, and prior myocardial infarction were more frequent in AHF than in the non-AHF cohort. AP-AHF cohort had similar adjusted odds of all-cause mortality (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78–1.03; p=0.122), acute respiratory failure (AOR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.96–1.13; p=0.379), but higher adjusted odds of cardiogenic shock (AOR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.30–3.64; p=0.003), and use of mechanical ventilation (MV) (AOR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.17–1.56; p<0.001) compared to AP only cohort. AP-AHF cohort more frequently required longer durations of MV and hospital stays with a higher mean cost of the stay. CONCLUSIONS: Our study from a nationally representative database demonstrates an increased morbidity burden, worsened complications, and higher hospital resource utilization, although a similar risk of all-cause mortality in AP patients with AHF vs. no AHF.