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

BACKGROUND
The Intermountain Risk Score (IMRS), calculated using age and gender parameters as well as complete blood count (CBC) and some simple laboratory analyses, is simple and inexpensive to use and was developed for the purpose of predicting 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 to three centers between 01.01.2020 and 01.06.2022, 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 were 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 ROC analysis, a cutoff value of 15.5 for the IMRS predicted both 1-year and 1-month mortality. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, the highest mortality risk was observed in the IMRS high group and the lowest mortality risk was observed in the IMRS low group.

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