Objective To determine the change of serum ceruloplasmin (CP) in the patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and evaluate its clinical value. Methods Consecutive 70 CHF patients admitted in our hospital from January 2013 to January 2014 were enrolled in this study. According to the New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac function classification, they were divided into NYHA Ⅱ group (n=30), NYHA Ⅲ group (n=25), and NYHA Ⅳ group (n=15). Another 20 age-matched volunteers with normal cardiac function served as controls. The levels of CP and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were measured at admission and 12 months after hospital discharge. Echocardiography was performed to evaluate the cardiac structure and function. Results The levels of NT-proBNP and CP were significantly higher in the CHF group than the control group (P<0.05) at admission. In the CHF group, the NT-proBNP level was decreased in 12 months after discharge compared to that at admission (P<0.05), but no such change was observed in the CP level (P>0.05). Receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that the CP level at 12 months after discharge was of predictive diagnostic value for re-hospitalization in the patients (AUC=0.82, P=0.03). Pearson and Spearman correlation analysis showed that the CP level at admission was positively correlated with left ventricular end systolic diameter (LVESD; r=0.308, P=0.025), and negatively with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF, r=0.332, P=0.023) in the CHF patients. And the NT-proBNP level was negatively correlated with LVEF (r=－0.398, P=0.038), and positively with CP level (r=0.408, P=0.042). But no such correlations were found in 12 months after discharge. Conclusion The serum CP level is obviously elevated in the CHF patients, and correlated with re-hospitalization. CP can be regarded as a potential biomarker for evaluation and prognostic prediction in the patients.