For hospitalized HF patients,  the extent of residual congestion at the time of discharge is one of the most potent predictors of their risk for readmission and death.  Figure 7 illustrates one measure of this association, using pre-discharge levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) as a surrogate for the efficacy of decongestion at the time of discharge.  As shown, patients with the lowest tertile of BNP (eg, <350 ng/L shown in the Figure) at hospital discharge had nearly 15-fold lower rates of hospitalization and death at 180 days than patients with the highest tertile of BNP (here > 700 ng/L).^[3]  Accordingly, effective management of congestion prior to discharge is a key goal for hospitalized patients, even if it comes at the expense of prolonging the length of stay.