The prognostic significance of the C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) in predicting long-term all-cause mortality in patients with acute heart failure (AHF) is explored in this study. CAR, a novel biomarker, has been shown to reflect inflammatory status more accurately than individual markers of C-reactive protein (CRP) or albumin alone. The study aims to evaluate the prognostic value of CAR in AHF patients, considering its accessibility, practicality, and cost-effectiveness. The research involved a retrospective analysis of 227 patients with AHF, stratified into high and low CAR groups based on a specific cutoff value. The primary endpoints were all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and non-cardiac mortality. Results indicated a significant association between higher CAR levels and increased all-cause and cardiac mortality rates. The study also explored the predictive power of CAR and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in forecasting different mortality outcomes. The combined model of NT-proBNP and CAR demonstrated superior performance in risk stratification for all-cause mortality. The findings suggest that CAR is an independent predictor of long-term all-cause mortality in AHF patients, highlighting its potential as a valuable biomarker for prognostic assessment and treatment strategies in this population.
