Clinical Approach to Shortening Length of Hospital Stay in Elderly Patients With Acute Heart Failure Requiring Intensive Care

Background: The length of hospital stay (LOHS) after acute heart failure (AHF) is too long in Japan. The clinical approach to shortening LOHS is an urgent issue in the aging Japanese society. Methods and Results: Of 1,473 AHF patients screened, 596 patients >75 years old were enrolled. They were divided by LOHS: <28 days (<28-day group, n=316) and ≥28 days (≥28-day group, n=280). Systolic blood pressure and serum hemoglobin were significantly higher and serum blood urea nitrogen and creatinine significantly lower in the <28-day group than in the ≥28-day group. Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) use was significantly more frequent in the <28-day group than in the ≥28-day group. Furthermore, newly initiated tolvaptan in <12 h was significantly more frequent in the <28-day group than in the ≥28-day group (P=0.004). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, newly initiated tolvaptan in <12 h (OR, 2.574; 95% CI: 1.146–5.780, P=0.022) and NPPV use (OR, 1.817; 95% CI: 1.254–2.634, P=0.002) were independently associated with the <28-day group. The same result was found after propensity score matching for LOHS. Conclusions: LOHS was prolonged in patients with severe HF but could be shortened by early tolvaptan treatment.