Characteristics of the study population as a whole and according to corrected natraemia, blood glucose and eGFR
| All patients | Corrected natraemia | P values | Blood glucose | P values | eGFR (MDRD) | P values | ||||
| n=405 | n=87 | n=318 | n=217 | n=178 | n=197 | n=208 | ||||
| <136 mmol/L | ≥136 mmol/L | Below threshold value | Above threshold value | ≥50 mL/min/1.73 m2 | <50 mL/min/1.73 m2 | |||||
| Age (years) (mean±SD) | 82.1±10.7 | 80.4±12.2 | 82.6±10.3 | 81.9±11.5 | 82.4±9.8 | 81.3±10.8 | 82.9±10.7 | |||
| Sex: men (%) | 39.3% | 37.9 | 39.6 | 42.9 | 36.0 | 38.9 | 39.6 | |||
| Medical history (%) | ||||||||||
| Hypertension | 69.1 | 40.2 | 71.7 | 65.9 | 74.2 | 69.2 | 69.0 | |||
| Diabetes | 38.8 | 33.3 | 40.3 | 39.2 | 38.8 | 33.2 | 44.7 | |||
| Current smoker | 14.6 | 21.8 | 12.6 | 17.1 | 11.8 | 15.9 | 13.2 | |||
| Obesity (BMI >30) | 9.1 | 6.9 | 9.7 | 9.2 | 91.0 | 9.6 | 8.6 | |||
| Dyslipidaemia | 23.7 | 25.3 | 23.3 | 23.5 | 24.2 | 25.5 | 21.8 | |||
| Prior heart failure | 35.6 | 31.0 | 36.8 | 33.2 | 39.3 | 29.8 | 41.6 | |||
| Coronary disease | 31.6 | 24.1 | 33.6 | 32.7 | 31.5 | 29.3 | 34.0 | |||
| Renal Failure | 6.4 | 3.4 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 13.2 | |||
| Arrhythmia | 37.0 | 33.3 | 38.1 | 38.7 | 35.4 | 34.6 | 39.6 | |||
| COPD | 23.2 | 20.7 | 23.9 | 23.0 | 23.6 | 28.8 | 17.3 | |||
| Haemodynamic status | ||||||||||
| SBP (mm Hg) (mean±SD) | 145.6±32.2 | 136.7±31.0 | 148.1±32.2 | <0.01* | 140.9±30.6 | 151.5±33.6 | <0.01* | 150.2±30.1 | 140.9±33.7 | <0.01* |
| <100 (%) | 6.7 | 13. 8 | 4.7 | 8.8 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 10.2 | |||
| 100–140 (%) | 42.6 | 42.5 | 42.6 | 46.1 | 37.9 | 37.2 | 48.2 | |||
| ≥140 (%) | 50.7 | 43.7 | 52.7 | 45.2 | 57.6 | 59.4 | 41.6 | |||
| DBP (mm Hg) (mean±SD) | 80.4±22.1 | 78.2±20.4 | 81.0±22.5 | 0.25 | 77.8±22.2 | 83.3±21.6 | <0.01* | 83.1±21.4 | 77.4±22.5 | <0.01* |
| Discharge from ED (%) | ||||||||||
| Hospitalised | 90.4 | 88.5 | 90.9 | 93.2 | 87.6 | 90.9 | 89.9 | |||
| Intensive care unit | 32.6 | 34.5 | 32.1 | 21.2 | 44.9 | 30.3 | 35.0 | |||
| Cardiology | 15.6 | 17.2 | 15.1 | 19.4 | 11.8 | 20.2 | 10.7 | |||
| Pneumology | 11.1 | 11.5 | 11.0 | 13.4 | 9.0 | 11.1 | 11.2 | |||
| Other department | 31.1 | 25.3 | 32.7 | 39.2 | 21.9 | 29.3 | 33.0 | |||
| Death | 3.7 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 5.6 | 1.9 | 5.6 | |||
| Outcomes | ||||||||||
| In-hospital mortality (%) | 15.1 | 24.1 | 12.6 | 0.01* | 12.4 | 18.0 | 0.16 | 12.0 | 18.3 | 0.09 |
| Laboratory workup | ||||||||||
| Troponin (mean±SD) | 1.3±9.3 | 2.2±9.6 | 1.1±9.2 | 0.2±0.4 | 1.7±11.3 | 0.3±1.0 | 2.5±13.5 | |||
| ≥0.04 ng/mL(%) | 56.2 | 58.8 | 55.5 | 47.1 | 62.0 | 51.2 | 62.0 | |||
| BNP (pg/mL) (mean±SD) | 1129.7± 2210.5 | 1188.3±1369.2 | 1114.9±2377.7 | 0.44 | 1275.8±2855.9 | 924.8±965.1 | 0.23 | 722.2±728.3 | 1574.4±3048.2 | <0.01* |
| <500 (%) | 39.7 | 31.9 | 41.6 | 36.6 | 44.1 | 50.8 | 27.4 | |||
| 500–900 (%) | 25.1 | 30.4 | 23.7 | 28.0 | 22.4 | 27.4 | 22.6 | |||
| ≥900 (%) | 35.3 | 37.7 | 34.7 | 35.5 | 33.6 | 21.8 | 50.0 | |||
| PaO2 (mm Hg) <60 (%) PaCO2(mm Hg) ≥42 (%) | 78.4 | 79.3 | 78.1 | 76.1 | 81.3 | 76.8 | 80.0 | |||
| 30.6 | 29.2 | 31.0 | 33.3 | 27.8 | 32.0 | 29.2 | ||||
| 45.9 | 44.4 | 46.3 | 43.2 | 48.8 | 48.1 | 43.7 | ||||
| 47.6 | 40.5 | 49.5 | 39.3 | 55.8 | 53.9 | 40.9 | ||||
| Radiography (%) | ||||||||||
| Normal | 12.6 | 4.8 | 15.6 | 14.4 | 12.6 | 16.7 | 9.8 | |||
| AHF | 70.6 | 64.3 | 58.6 | 65.6 | 52.6 | 56.4 | 63.4 | |||
| Pulmonary infection | 26.9 | 10.7 | 10.8 | 8.8 | 13.7 | 9.8 | 11.9 | |||
| AHF/pulmonary infection | 10.1 | 20.2 | 15.0 | 11.2 | 21.1 | 17.2 | 14.9 | |||
*P<0.05.
AHF, acute heart failure; BMI, body mass index; BNP, brain natriuretic peptide; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; ED, emergency department; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; MDRD, modification of diet in renal disease; PaCO2, arterial carbon dioxide pressure; PaO2, arterial oxygen pressure; SBP, systolic blood pressure.