Objective  To analyze the prognostic value of left atrial volume index (LAVi) in patients with mild to moderate chronic heart failure. Methods  Totally 110 chronic heart failure who admitted in our department from Sep. 2007 to Mar. 2008 and followed up for (17.0±4.2) months were enrolled in this study

including 38 cases of hypertensive heart disease

17 cases of dilated cardiomyopathy and 10 cases of valvular diseases. They were (63.3±10.6) years old

and there were 65 cases of Ⅱ grade and 45 cases of Ⅲ grade according to New York heart association (NYHA). Their mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 51%

and that for 64 patients with heart failure with normal ejection

fraction was 58.2%. Resting cardiac output (CO)

6-minute walk test (6MWT) and exercise CO were measured. Levels of LAVi were measured by monoplane

area-length method. Results  Logistic regression analysis showed that an increased hazard of death and/or rehospitalization had variables association with LAVi. LAVi was strongly associated with adverse outcome

with a 4.8% increase in risk for every 1 ml/m

2

of LAVi (95%

CI

1.001 to 1.096

P

<

0.05). Area under the curve for LAVi in evaluating prognosis of CHF patients was 0.851 (sensitivity 85.5%

specificity 75.6%). Conclusion  LAVi level on admission is a strong predictor for rehospitalization and death in patients with mild to moderate chronic heart failure.