Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesCohort study

Higher Emergency Department Diuretic Dosing for Acute Heart Failure Associated With Lower Risk of Hospitalization

JACC Heart FailPublished

  • Retrospective cohort study
  • inverse propensity treatment weighting
  • 21 emergency department (EDs)

Authors' conclusion

Use of higher-dose diuretic agents was associated with lower hospital admissions without evidence of persistent AKI.

Study context

Population
Adults with acute HF receiving IV diuretics in the ED, 21 EDs, 2023–2024
Participants
14,983 ED encounters
Exposure
Medium- and high-dose vs low-dose initial ED IV diuretic
  • Lown = 5,436reference
  • Mediumn = 5,329
  • Highn = 4,218
Outcome
Hospital admission or AKI
Follow-up
48 hours

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

Hospital admission
Each group vs lowRisk difference (95% CI)
Medium
−2.6%(−4.4% to −0.9%)
High
−1.2%(−3.1% to −0.7%)

Observational data: associations, not effects.

Further findings

Persistent AKI at hospital discharge

No significant differences in the higher-dose groups

Safety

Outcomerisk difference (95% CI)
AKI · 48 hours · higher with high dose2.9% (1.4%–4.5%)

Original publication

Higher Emergency Department Diuretic Dosing for Acute Heart Failure Associated With Lower Risk of Hospitalization. JACC Heart Fail. Published 31 July 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jchf.2026.103235

Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it