Cor Vasa 2025, 67(5):641-645 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2025.016

The LACE Index: A Predictor of Mortality and Readmission in Cardiovascular Diseases

Lutfu Askina, Yahya Urkmezb, Okan Tanriverdic
a Department of Cardiology, Gaziantep Islamic Science and Technology University, Gaziantep, Turkey
b Department of Internal Medicine, Gaziantep City Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey
c Department of Cardiology, Adiyaman Education and Research Hospital, Adiyaman, Turkey

The LACE index is a predictive tool used in healthcare to estimate the risk of hospital readmission for patients who have been discharged from the hospital. LACE stands for length of stay, acuity of admission, comorbidity burden, and emergency department (ED) visits. It is a simple scoring system that assigns points to each of these four factors based on their presence and severity and then sums up the points to calculate the LACE index score. The LACE index is often used by healthcare providers to identify patients who may be at higher risk of being readmitted to the hospital after discharge. By identifying patients with higher LACE scores, healthcare providers can potentially intervene and provide additional support or resources to help prevent readmission. The LACE index can be useful in guiding care transitions and discharge planning and can be incorporated into clinical decision-making processes to optimise patient outcomes. The total score calculated from the LACE index can be used to stratify patients into different risk categories, such as low, moderate, or high risk of hospital readmission. This information can help healthcare providers prioritise interventions and allocate resources effectively to prevent hospital readmissions and improve patient care. However, it's important to note that the LACE index is just one tool among many, and clinical judgement and individualised assessment of cardiovascular patients should also be considered in making care decisions.

Keywords: Comorbidity burden, Hospital readmission, LACE index,

Received: December 27, 2024; Revised: December 27, 2024; Accepted: January 21, 2025; Prepublished online: June 2, 2012; Published: November 6, 2025  Show citation

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Askin L, Urkmez Y, Tanriverdi O. The LACE Index: A Predictor of Mortality and Readmission in Cardiovascular Diseases. Cor Vasa. 2025;67(5):641-645. doi: 10.33678/cor.2025.016.
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