Poor therapeutic management of patients with heart failure: study of readmissions at a general hospital]

To assess the measures used in Chronic Heart Failure (HF) in ours medium, and medical control of patients before and after readmissions to hospital.Retrospective study was made in aleatory sample of 153 patients with readmissions for HF, during a one year period (January to December 1996). We took details of age, sex, number of readmission, aetiology of cardiopathy, ejection fraction of left ventricle, functional status, previous and posterior to discharge treatments and the medical control.There was not medical control previous of readmission in 22.2% of patients. There was not coordination with other medical care after discharge in 19.6%. The etiology of cardiopathy was unknown in 14% of patients and do not performed the echocardiography in 22.2%. There was systolic dysfunction 66.3%. More used drugs was diuretics; previous (91.5%) and after (83%) discharge. ACE-Inhibitors was used in 49.3% of patients with systolic dysfunction, previous of readmission (only in 26.5% to correct dose). After discharge was used in 68% and 16.4% to correct dose. We analyzed others therapies as dietary sodium poor (44.4%) and suitable exercise (0.7%).We observed the underutilization of ACE-Inhibitors in patients with ventricular dysfunction, and de unsuitable medical control in patients with HF. There are relatively high percent of patients without correct valuation after multiple rehospitalizations.