Epidemiology, clinical and prognostic factors in Spanish patients with heart failure: The RICA-2 registry

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome of epidemic proportions and one of the main reasons for hospitalization worldwide. Different scientific societies have risen interest in the creation of their own registries to study the characteristics and prognosis of these patients. Each registry covers a part of the spectrum of this heterogeneous syndrome and is useful to address questions that are difficult to answer in clinical trials. The RICA-2 is a national registry created by the Heart Failure Working Group of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine and offers an Internal Medicine perspective of this pathology. Objectives: The main objective is to assess clinical and epidemiological characteristics and prognostic factors among patients with HF. Secondary objectives include: (1) To determine clinical/epidemiological/phenotypic characteristics and prognosis specifically in patients with HF and preserved left-ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF); (2) To examine how functional status, cognition, frailty, and nutrition influence the prognosis of patients with HF; (3) To assess congestion and strategies to achieve decongestion during the acute decompensation phase. Methods: A multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study including patients with HF attended in Spanish Internal Medicine Departments. Patients will be recruited in the acute decompensation phase or in the stable phase in the outpatient setting, including de novo and chronically decompensated patients. Patients will be included regardless of HF aetiology, LVEF values and comorbidities. Conclusions: Our work is a prospective study that aims to improve knowledge regarding epidemiology and prognosis in patients with HF, with focus on functionality, cognition, frailty, nutrition, and congestion phase.