Length of hospital stay in patients with decompensated heart failure from moderate to severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction

In 155 subjects with left ventricular ejection fraction less than or equal to 30% hospitalized for heart failure, we assessed the relation of clinical , demographic, and echocardiographic variables with hospital length of stay . We found that initial blood urea nitrogen (BUN) > 30 mg/dl, use of intrav enous inotropic therapy during hospitalization, and presence of atrial fibr illation (AFEB) at the time of hospitalization were independent predictors of length of stay. Based on these results, we classified patients into thos e likely to require "short," "medium," or "long" length of stay.