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Background and Objectives: This work aims to assess whether symptoms/signs of congestion in patients with acute heart failure (AHF) evaluated in hospital emergency departments (HED) allows for predicting short-term progress., Patients and Methods: The study group comprised consecutive patients diagnosed with AHF in 45 HED from EAHFE Registry. We collected clinical variables of systemic congestion (edema in the lower extremities, jugular vein distention, hepatomegaly) and pulmonary congestion (dyspnea on exertion, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, orthopnea, and pulmonary crackles) and analysed their individual and group association with all-cause 30-day of mortality crudely and adjusted for differences between groups., Results: We analysed 18,120 patients (median = 83 years, interquartile range [IQR] = 76-88; women = 55.7%). Of them, 44.6% had > 3 congestive symptoms/signs. Individually, the 30-day adjusted risk of death increased 14% for jugular vein distention (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] = 1.01-1.28) and 96% for dyspnea on exertion (HR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.55-2.49). Assessed jointly, the risk progressively increased with the number of symptoms/signs present; compared to patients without symptoms/signs of congestion, the risk increased by 109%, 123 %, and 156% in patients with 1-2, 3-5, and 6-7 symptoms/signs, respectively. These associations did not show interaction with the final disposition of the patient after their emergency care (discharge/hospitalization) with the exception of edema in the lower extremities, which had a better prognosis in discharged patients (HR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.49-0.89) than hospitalised patients (HR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.65-1.57; interaction p < 0.001)., Conclusion: The presence of a greater number of congestive symptoms/signs was associated with greater all-cause 30-day mortality. Individually, jugular vein distention and dyspnea on exertion were associated with higher short-term mortality., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Medicina Interna (SEMI). All rights reserved.)

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation and gastrointestinal and breast cancer. Various sectors are therefore promoting abstinence from alcohol. However, light alcohol consumption has once again been shown to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction and diabetes but with an unclear effect on cerebrovascular disease. The decision to consume alcohol should therefore be an individual one based on personal factors. A level of consumption <100 g/week for men (less for women) appears not to increase all-cause mortality, while high consumption or binge drinking significantly increases mortality risk. All measures to prevent this type of consumption, especially among the younger population, should therefore be applied. There are data indicating an advantage of wine over other beverages, but they are not conclusive., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Medicina Interna (SEMI). All rights reserved.)

The latest acute heart failure (AHF) consensus document from the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC, for its initials in Spanish), Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI), and Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine (SEMES) was published in 2015, which made an update covering the main novelties regarding AHF from the last few years necessary. These include publication of updated European guidelines on HF in 2016, new studies on the pharmacological treatment of patients during hospitalization, and other recent developments regarding AHF such as early treatment, intermittent treatment, advanced HF, and refractory congestion. This consensus document was drafted with the aim of updating all aspects related to AHF and to create a document that comprehensively describes the diagnosis, treatment, and management of this disease., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Medicina Interna (SEMI). All rights reserved.)