Heart failure in patients with severe dependence measured by Barthel index

the admission and quartiles: ≤3.20 g/L (46 patients — Group 1); 3.21–3.80 g/L (43 patients — Group 2); 3.81–4.30 g/L (37 patients — Group 3) and N4.31 g/L (42 patients — Group 4). As endpoint we analyzed cardiovascular mortality. Results: Themean age was 73 ± 16.5 years, with no differences between groups. No differences were found among genders. The mean value of BNP on admission was higher in group 1 (444.9 pg/mL) than in the remaining groups, but without statistical significance. The median follow-up time in 4 groups was 740 days. Long-term mortality was significantly higher among group 1 patients, compared with group 4 (41.3 vs. 19%, Log-Rank p b 0.0024). No correlation was found with d-dimers. Conclusions: Low levels of fibrinogen on patient admission were associated with worse long-term prognosis in an unselected cohort of pulmonary embolism patients.