Introduction: Heart failure (HF) hospitalization rates are decreasing in Western Europe, but little is known about trends in Central European countries. (1) In this study we analyzed the hospitalizations due to heart failure in University Hospital Dubrava (UHD).

Methods and Results: The hospital information system of UHD was searched for primary HF hospitalizations of the patients aged ≥20 years from the local hospital catchment area assigned to UHD for the time period between 2007 and 2016. A total of 4428 primary HF hospitalizations in 3376 patients (median age 75 years, 52.0% male) was recorded. The most common co-morbidities were arterial hypertension (52.0%), atrial fibrillation (45.3%), ischemic heart disease (46.9%) and diabetes mellitus (18.9%). HF hospitalization rates increased significantly from 2007 to 2016. In 2007 main hospitalization rate was 130.7 per 100,000, while in 2016 it was 150.5 per 100,000. This is a relative increase of 15% (p=0.023). In the same time, the in-hospital mortality decreased insignificantly (p=0.718) from 11.7% to 10.6%. After a first HF hospitalization, any HF readmission rates within 30, 60, and 90 days and at 1 year were 5.6%, 9.5%, 12.0%, and 21.5%, respectively.

Conclusion: Despite improvements in management, HF remains a major challenge associated with a significant mortality and readmission rates.