Abstract :
I have read the article by Kato et al. (1) entitled “Higher diuretic
dosing within the first 72 h is predictive of longer length of stay in
patients with acute heart failure” which was published in Anatol J
Cardiol 2018; 20: 110-6, with great interest. In their study, authors
reported that higher diuretic dosing in the first 72 h of hospitalization was an independent predictor of longer length of hospital stay
in patients with acute heart failure. In addition, they concluded that
there could be important predictors of the length of hospital stay
that were not included in their study. Beside this, they reported
that laboratory data of patients, including serum sodium level and
cardiac troponin values, were recorded on admission and during
the first 72 h of hospitalization (1). I would like to emphasize some
important points about this well-written study.
It has been demonstrated that cardiac troponin is an important
marker for the prognosis of acute heart failure. In previous studies, it has been shown that an elevated cardiac troponin level on
admission has been associated with increased length of hospital
stay (2, 3). Moreover, hyponatremia is a common electrolyte disorder in patients with heart failure
