Heart failure & cardiomyopathies

Palliative-Oriented Referral and Advanced Vulnerability in Very Old Patients Hospitalised for Acute Heart Failure

ESC Heart FailPublished retrospective single-centre study

Authors' conclusion

LISP referral identified very old patients with acute HF, advanced multidimensional vulnerability, higher NT-proBNP levels, and high short-term mortality. It should be interpreted as a clinician-assigned marker, not as a causal determinant of prognosis.

Study context

Population
Patients aged >65 years discharged after acute heart failure (HF) hospitalisation from a cardiogeriatric unit between 1 January and 24 September 2025patients analysed, 106 had LISP referral
Participants
604 patients
Outcome
Factors associated with LISP referral
Methodological detailsexploratory multivariable logistic regression
  • Exploratory multivariable logistic regression

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

Association with LISP referral
Odds ratio (95% CI)P value
Lower Activities of Daily Living score
0.45(0.37–0.55)
P < 0.001
Major neurocognitive disorders
2.98(1.73–5.13)
P < 0.001
Higher log-transformed discharge NT-proBNP
1.35(1.08–1.69)
P = 0.008
Lower SGLT2 inhibitor use among patients with LVEF >50%
0.49(0.27–0.88)
P = 0.017
Fewer discharge medications
0.88(0.79–0.97)
P = 0.011

Observational data: associations, not effects.

Further findings

Survival · 6 months

LISP referral associated with higher mortality and lower 6-month survival
47.6% vs. 79.5%

Baseline characteristics

Mean age
86.9 ± 7.1 years
Women
52%

Original publication

Palliative-Oriented Referral and Advanced Vulnerability in Very Old Patients Hospitalised for Acute Heart Failure. ESC Heart Fail. Published 7 October 2026. doi:10.1093/eschf/xvag252

Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →

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