[Prognostic significance of hemoglobin levels in patients with heart failure].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prognostic significance of hemoglobin (Hb) levels in terms of 1-year mortality and hospital admissions due to heart failure (HF) during the first year of follow-up after the first visit to an outpatient HF unit.


METHODS
Survival status and HF-related hospital admission rate at 1 year were analyzed for 337 patients admitted between August 2001 and March 2003. Plasma Hb level was measured at the first visit to the unit.


RESULTS
28 patients (8%) died and there were 158 HF-related hospital admissions in 66 patients. Plasma Hb level correlated strongly with survival at 1 year, and was 13.0 +/- 1.7 g/dL in patients who were alive after this time, versus 11.7 +/- 1.6 g/dL (P < .001) in patients who died. Plasma Hb level also correlated with HF-related need for hospital admission, and was 13.1 +/- 1.7 g/dL in patients who were not hospitalized, versus 12.2 +/- 1.7 g/dL (P < .001) in patients with at least one hospital admission. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis plasma Hb level remained statistically associated both with 1-year survival and with the need for HF-related hospital admission. On the basis of a cutoff value for anemia of Hb < 12 g/dL, 30% of the patients had anemia. One-year mortality was 17% in patients with anemia and 5% in patients without anemia (P < .001). Among patients without anemia, 31% had at least one HF-related hospital admission, whereas only a 15% of the patients without anemia needed to be hospitalized for HF (P = .001).


CONCLUSIONS
Plasma Hb levels correlated inversely with mortality and with HF-related hospital admissions at 1 year. The prevalence of anemia (Hb < 12 g/dL) in the population with HF studied here was high and had independent prognostic value.
Lupón
Josep
J
Unitat d'Insuficiència Cardíaca, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain. jlupon@ns.hugtip.scs.es
Urrutia
Agustín
A
González
Beatriz
B
Herreros
Juan
J
Altimir
Salvador
S
Coll
Ramon
R
Prats
Montserrat
M
Rey-Joly
Celestino
C
Valle
Vicente
V
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis
D006454:Hemoglobins