In-Hospital Outcomes of Patients with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure and Cirrhosis: An Analysis of the National Inpatient Sample

INTRODUCTION: Heart failure increases morbidity and mortality in patients admitted for cirrhosis. Our objective was to determine if patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and cirrhosis would have increased mortality, hospital length of stay (LOS), and total hospital charges compared to patients with only ADHF. There is also a paucity of data regarding the influence of gender, race, ethnicity, insurance, and cirrhosis-related complications on mortality, hospital length of stay, and total hospitalization charges. In this study, we aim to identify risk factors in a national population cohort from 2016. METHODS: All patients above 18 years old with cirrhosis and ADHF admitted in 2016 were identified from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS). Multivariate regression analysis was used to estimate the odds ratio of in-hospital mortality, average length of stay (LOS), and total hospital charges after adjusting for the following factors: age, gender, race, Charlson and Elixhauser scores, primary insurance payer status, hospital type, hospital bed size, hospital region, and hospital teaching status. Statistical analysis was performed by using the survey procedures function in the statistical analysis system (SAS) software. Statistical significance was defined by the two-sided t-test with a p value < 0.05. RESULTS: The overall sample contained 363,050 patients. A total of 355,455 patients were admitted with ADHF and 2% of these patients had concomitant cirrhosis (n = 7595) in 2016. The total mortality rate was 3.4%, hospital LOS was 6.6 days (with a median of 6.5 days), and the mean total hospital charge was $63,120.20. Patients with both ADHF and cirrhosis compared to patients without ADHF had increased mortality, hospital LOS, and cirrhosis-related complications. CONCLUSIONS: As the incidence and prevalence of ADHF and cirrhosis increases worldwide, we urge the medical community to increase surveillance of patients with both diseases and perform rigorous cardiovascular risk assessments as well to improve patient outcomes.