Background:

In Mexico, the epidemiology of heart failure is still not well understood. However, it is known that the primary cause of hospital admissions in patients with heart failure is pulmonary and systemic congestion.

Objective:

To estimate congestion status and assess cardiac function using portable ultrasound in patients with heart failure.

Method:

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted. Patients who attended the Heart Failure Clinic at the Ignacio Chávez National Cardiology Institute in Mexico City between May and August 2022 were selected. They underwent ultrasonographic evaluation using a portable device to assess pulmonary and systemic congestion, as well as cardiac function and structure.

Results:

One-hundred patients diagnosed with heart failure were prospectively included during the study period; 76% were male, with an average age of 59 years (range: 50-68 years). The recorded LVEF median was 34% (IQR: 27-43.5%). When evaluating pulmonary congestion, 78% of the patients showed a pattern A and 22% a pattern B. Following the VExUS protocol, 92% of the patients were at grade 0, 2% at grade 1, and 6% at grade 2.

Conclusions:

The use of the portable ultrasound facilitated the quantitative characterization of the echocardiographic features of the studied population. This device could provide better clinical characterization which, in turn, might allow for optimized drug prescription for heart failure and dose adjustments of diuretics based on echocardiographic congestion findings.

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