title: Adequacy of endogenous erythropoietin levels and mortality in anaemic heart failure patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the adequacy of endogenous erythropoietin (EPO) levels for the degree of anaemia in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and its relation to prognosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We studied 74 anaemic CHF patients from a cohort of 240 patients. The adequacy of endogenous EPO levels was assessed by derived observed/predicted (O/P) ratio. A ratio value < 0.92 indicates EPO levels lower than expected, whereas a value > 1.09 indicates EPO levels higher than expected. The primary endpoint was mortality. During a median follow up of 4.9 years, 35 of the 74 (47.3%) anaemic patients died. EPO levels lower than expected were observed in 29 patients (39%), whereas EPO levels higher than expected were present in 22 anaemic patients (29%). The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that anaemic patients with EPO levels higher than expected had a significantly higher mortality rate compared to patients with EPO levels as expected or EPO levels lower than expected (log-rank: P = 0.024). A higher O/P ratio was an independent predictor of increased mortality risk adjusted for variables including age, sex, haemoglobin, NT-proBNP, and renal function; hazard ratio (HR): 1.020 95%CI (1.004-1.036), P = 0.012.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EPO levels higher than expected, suggesting resistance to the hormone, are common in CHF patients and are associated with a higher mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. pvandermeer@partners.org
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van der Meer
authors.forename: Dirk J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lok
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Januzzi
authors.forename: Pieta W Bruggink-Andre
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: de la Porte
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lipsic
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Wijngaarden
authors.forename: Adriaan A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Voors
authors.forename: Wiek H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: van Gilst
authors.forename: Dirk J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: van Veldhuisen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004921:Erythropoietin