title: Anaemia and renal function in heart failure due to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anaemia and renal dysfunction are common in patients with heart failure (HF). Most studies involve western cohorts with ischaemic aetiology receiving treatment likely to impair renal function.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the frequency of anaemia and renal dysfunction and the relationship between the two within a cohort of 163 newly diagnosed Black African idiopathic cardiomyopathy patients prior to commencing HF treatments and compare those findings to those of western HF cohorts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Single-centre retrospective analysis. Anaemia defined as haemoglobin concentration<13.0 g/dL for males (n=85) and <12 g/dL for females (n=78). Probable renal dysfunction defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate of <60 mL/min/1.73 m2, using serum creatinine concentrations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 48+/-11 years, 52% were male. Overall, 13.5% of patients were anaemic and 11.8% had evidence of renal dysfunction, while 1.2% had both. Renal dysfunction was significantly more common in older patients (mean age 58+/-13 vs. 47+/-10 years: p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of anaemia and renal dysfunction in this cohort was lower than that reported in western HF cohorts. These data infer a more limited relationship between HF, anaemia and renal dysfunction in patients without atherothrombotic disease; hence extrapolation of HF data from the western world to other populations should be interpreted cautiously.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and Soweto Cardiovascular Research Unit, Department of Cardiology, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa.
authors.forename: Sally C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Inglis
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papachan
authors.forename: Vinesh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vaghela
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Libhaber
authors.forename: Yosuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Veriava
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sliwa
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology*; D001315:Australia; D044383:Black People; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D013318:Stroke Volume