%0 Journal Article %A P Banerjee %A G Tanner %A L Williams %T Intravenous diuretic day-care treatment for patients with heart failure %D 2012 %R 10.7861/clinmedicine.12-2-133 %J Clinical Medicine %P 133-136 %V 12 %N 2 %X Fluid overload is a common manifestation of decompensated chronic heart failure. This paper reports on a pilot study that investigated whether intravenous (iv) furosemide administered on a cardiology day ward for three successive days was effective in improving the symptoms of patients with fluid overload and chronic heart failure. The results showed that 94.1% of patients reported an improvement in their breathlessness, with a marked weight loss in 88.2% of patients. There were no marked changes in blood pressure or renal function. Hospital admission was avoided in 94.1% of cases. The study concluded that iv diuretic treatment given in a hospital day-care setting is safe and effective, and that it reduces the need for hospital admissions. As a consequence, this reduces the associated financial costs of hospitalisation. %U https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/clinmedicine/12/2/133.full.pdf