Prognostic factors in chronic heart failure. A review of serum biomarkers, metabolic changes, symptoms, and scoring systems.

Decision-making in the care for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) has become increasingly difficult. The many available therapeutic strategies and novel treatment modalities with borderline or modest benefit call for careful risk stratification in patients with CHF. Rather than relying on highly sophisticated and expensive procedures, we may find routinely available parameters of clinical value. This review considers the importance and validity of serum biomarkers (like natriuretic peptides, uric acid, lipoproteins, and cytokines), metabolic changes (like insulin resistance or body mass index), patient measures of symptom status and exercise capacity, as well as prognostic scoring systems. There is limited evidence that the use of prognostic markers to make treatment decisions improves the outcome in CHF. Many studies still need to be done to this end.