Cardiology Emergency Medicine

Ottawa Heart Failure Risk Scale

Identifies ED patients with acute heart failure at high risk for serious adverse events within 14 days.

Score interpretation

OHFRS 0–1 — Lower Risk 0–1

Below the admission threshold (score > 1) validated by Stiell 2017.

→ Discharge may be considered if the patient responds well to ED treatment, with early follow-up.

OHFRS ≥ 2 — Admission Threshold Met 2–15

Score > 1: admission threshold, 91.8 % sensitivity for serious adverse events in the Stiell 2017 validation.

→ Admit for monitoring and treatment; cardiology review.

Interpretation bands for the OHFRS. Apply clinical judgement and local guidance.

Stiell IG et al. A risk scoring system to identify emergency department patients with heart failure at high risk for serious adverse events. Acad Emerg Med. 2013;20(1):17-26.
Stiell IG et al. Prospective and explicit clinical validation of the Ottawa Heart Failure Risk Scale, with and without use of quantitative NT-proBNP. Acad Emerg Med. 2017;24(3):316-327.

Curated clinical cross-links plus same-class fallbacks.

Calculators

Drugs

Pathways

Decision support only — verify against a current formulary, NICE, or your local guideline before clinical use.