A Novel Determinant of Prognosis in Acute Pulmonary Edema: Intermountain Risk Score

Objective: The Intermountain Risk Score (IMRS), calculated using age, gender, complete blood count (CBC), and simple laboratory analyses, is an easy-to-use and cost-effective tool developed to predict mortality. In our study, we aimed to determine whether the IMRS could predict mortality in patients admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of acute pulmonary edema.

Methods: A total of 371 patients who were admitted with a diagnosis of pulmonary edema, were included in our study. The IMRS of the patients was determined using a calculation tool, and the patients were divided into three groups based on the determined value: low, moderate, and high IMRS.

Results: The patients included in our study comprised 208 women and 163 men, with an average age of 68.7 years. There was a statistically significant difference between the patient groups concerning both 1-month and 1-year mortality rates. Additionally, there was a significant difference in IMRS between patients who developed in-hospital, 1-month, and 1-year mortality and those who survived. In the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, a cutoff value of 15.5 for the IMRS predicted both 1-year and 1-month mortality. In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, the highest mortality risk was observed in the high IMRS group and the lowest mortality risk in the low IMRS group.

Conclusion: Our research results show that the IMRS strongly predicts both short-term and long-term mortality in patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of acute pulmonary edema.

Keywords: Acute pulmonary edema, intermountain risk score, mortality